Chelsea are now the favourites to sign Willian up to a new contract, with a deal possible before the end of the week after a breakthrough in negotiations.

Sky Sports report that Chelsea are now favourites to secure the signature of their 31-year-old winger Willian, despite struggles to reach an agreement to this point and interest from other clubs – including Arsenal.

Most recently, ESPN actually claimed Arsenal were growing ‘very optimistic’ about signing Willian. The player is available on a free transfer this summer, if he doesn’t agree terms with Chelsea.

As we know from Willian’s recent comments, the initial sticking point in negotiations was the length of his deal. He wanted a three-year contract with Chelsea, but they were only offering two.

Sky couldn’t confirm which of the two parties were yielding on the matter. It’s possible Chelsea ended up upgrading their offer to three years, but probably more likely that Willian accepted some sort of compromise.

Either way, the result is that Willian is likely to extend his deal with Chelsea and stay at Stamford Bridge.

On the one hand, it’s a shame to miss out on Willian on current form. He’s playing well and wouldn’t cost anything to bring in. On the other, he’s in his thirties and would join on big wages. It’s not really the kind of sensible signing Arsenal need to make.