Tottenham express outrage after Chelsea hijack Willian transfer
• Tottenham accuse rivals of waging a vendetta over £32m deal
• Roman Abramovich made personal call to Anzhi's owner
Jose Mourinho made little attempt to hide his delight at hijacking Tottenham Hotspur's move for Willian as the north London club raged behind the scenes about Chelsea's £32m
capture of the Anzhi Makhachkala forward representing a vendetta against them.
Chelsea are confident that they will complete the transfer next week, subject to the Brazilian being granted a work permit, after the club's owner, Roman Abramovich,
made a personal call to his fellow Russian oligarch, Suleyman Kerimov, the Anzhi owner.
Tottenham, who had seen off competition from Liverpool, thought that Willian was about to sign for them in a £30m deal after he completed a medical on Thursday.
However, Abramovich finessed his contact with Kerimov and, to Tottenham's fury, Willian was on his way to Stamford Bridge, albeit for a slightly higher price. Tottenham,
Mourinho suggested, had paid the price for not doing the medical "in secret".
The Tottenham manager, Andre Villas-Boas, who made an unsuccessful move for Willian in January, before the 25-year-old left Shakhtar Donetsk for Anzhi for £30m, had intended to make the player his principal threat in the line behind the striker; somebody to offset the anticipated departure of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. Tottenham have now intensified their efforts to finalise a deal for Roma's £25m-rated forward Erik Lamela. That is understood to be close.
In the wake of Willian's U-turn, the complaints from White Hart Lane were loud and sustained. Daniel Levy, the chairman, was, according to sources,
incandescent and there is the firm belief at Tottenham that Chelsea did not truly want Willian. Instead Tottenham feel that they have moved for him purely to prevent Villas-Boas from constructing a squad to challenge them in the Premier League this season. Chelsea deny this and insist they have always had an interest in Willian.
Tottenham also feel that Willian had no say in the transfer, that it was down purely to Abramovich, Kerimov and the player's advisers.
Mourinho already has an abundance of options for the positions behind the striker, in the form of Eden Hazard, Oscar, Andre Schurrle, Juan Mata, Kevin De Bruyne and Victor Moses,
and this has only increased the sense at Tottenham that Willian is not really needed at Chelsea.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/23/tottenham-chelsea-willian
