CHELSEA boss Maurizio Sarri believes Willian will stay put at the club this summer.
Willian has been heavily linked with La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid in recent months.
The Spanish transfer window does not close until August 31 and the Brazil winger’s future remains uncertain.
New Blues boss Sarri is confident Willian won’t leave in the coming days but admits he doesn’t know what his long-term future will hold.
He said: “For us Willian is a very useful player so I am sure he will remain here for this season.
“I hope for the future, but a new contract is out of my responsibility. I can give my opinion to the board and then the board will decide.”
Sarri has also given an update on the futures of young English duo Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham, hinting both could go be set to go out on loan.
He said: “Here the problem is the bench because in Italy the list for the match is 23 players, here only 18.
“So I have to decide every match the bench by the position on the pitch.
“Sometimes I prefer to have two wingers and sometimes maybe I would prefer to have two midfielders.
“I am not able to promise anything to anybody. It is up to him [Loftus-Cheek]. I usually look at the training and then I decide.
“It is not so easy in this period because we play only once a week, but I have told the team in this month they have to be patient.
“In the future starting from September we play twice a week so there will be space for everybody.”
On Abraham, Sarri said: “It is up to him. If he wants to remain, we are very happy with him and so I think until January he will stay with us.”
Chelsea have won both of their games to open up the new Premier League season, beating Huddersfield and Arsenal.
The Blues make the trip to Newcastle tomorrow as Sarri looks to make it three from three this term.
Eden Hazard is in line for his first start of the season at St James’ Park.
The Belgium World Cup star has come on as a second-half substitute in both matches so far, but Sarri says he is now ready to play around 60 minutes.
Cesc Fabregas looks set to miss out again with a knee problem in Chelsea’s only injury concern.
Provisional squad: Kepa, Caballero, Rudiger, Alonso, Jorginho, Drinkwater, Kante, Barkley, Hazard, Pedro, Moses, Kovacic, Giroud, Zappacosta, Willian, Cahill, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Morata, Luiz, Emerson Palmieri, Ampadu, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi.