Willian fails to turn up to Chelsea training and blames passport problems for no-show
Blues star's reasoning comes just a day after Real Madrid launched a £65million bid for him - and club are unconvinced
WILLIAN has blamed passport problems after going Awol from Chelsea training for four days, according to reports.
News of his no-show comes just a day after Real Madrid launched a stunning £100million double bid for the Brazil star and team-mate Thibaut Courtois.
Willian, 29 - who Madrid value at £65million - was due to return to Cobham on Friday after being given extra time off following Brazil's World Cup campaign.
SunSport can reveal that his passport was full when he went to head back to the UK from Brazil last week and he has had to wait three days for it to be sorted so he can leave the country.
Chelsea are not convinced his excuse stands up, according to .
The Blues apparently fear he is following the same path Diego Costa went down when he forced a £57m return to Atletico Madrid in September.
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The attacker was close pals with Costa at Chelsea and is represented by the same agency.
Real, Manchester United and Barcelona have all been linked with Willian this summer.
Barca opted to sign his compatriot Malcom after refusing to meet the Blues' £70m asking price.
Los Blancos and United could still swoop for the winger.
Though Willian last night claimed: "[Leaving?] No, I'm back to England. I'm very happy at Chelsea.
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"I'm very happy living in London."
A source close to Willian told The Times that he will be back in training this week.
Chelsea will fly to Dublin tonight ahead of their International Champions Cup clash against Arsenal tomorrow.
They then have four days until the Community Shield, where they will face Manchester City.
Willian has already had a three-and-a-half week holiday after Brazil were knocked out of the World Cup by Belgium in the quarter-final.
New Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri is confident of keeping hold of the player, who has two years left on his contract.
He said: "It’s a pleasure to have Courtois, to have Willian, to have Hazard, but it [their futures] doesn’t depend on me, not only on me. So, we have to wait. I’m confident."