Manchester United confident of completing second Chelsea raid

Manchester United are confident of prising Willian away from Chelsea this summer, reports The Sun.

Jose Mourinho wanted to reunite with Willian last summer but is determined to get his man this time around.

United successfully prised Nemanja Matic away from Chelsea 12 months ago and now the Red Devils are confident of completing a second raid of their Premier League rivals in the space of a year.

Chelsea are open to selling Willian if they can extract maximum value and will use that money to fund their own summer signings, but would prefer to sell the Brazil international abroad.

Barcelona have been heavily linked with a move for the 29-year-old and have reportedly even had a £50m bid turned down for the hard-working winger.

Riyad Mahrez is on the verge of joining Manchester City in a deal worth in excess of £60m and Chelsea believe Willian is worth at least the same, if not more.

Despite not knowing who their manager will be next season, Chelsea are expected to negotiate Willian’s departure following Brazil’s elimination from the 2018 World Cup and United believe they are the favourites ahead of Barcelona.

Willian’s arrival would pave the way for Anthony Martial to leave the club even though they are competing for different positions.

Martial’s agent revealed at the end of last season that his client wants to leave Old Trafford due to the way Mourinho has treated the United No.11.

Willian has achieved the ninth highest WhoScored rating in a single game at the 2018 World Cup thus far (9.24).