Willian: Special club

One nice moment to come from Saturday’s trip to Villa Park, was Willian writing his name into the Premier League history books by becoming the South American with the most appearances in the competition.

In replacing Alex Iwobi in the 76^th minute, the Brazilian marked his 326^th appearance in the English top flight, moving him ahead of Ecuadorian Antonio Valencia, who had held the record for the last six years.

“It always was my dream to come here to play in the Premier League,” Willian said afterwards. “For me, it’s the best league in the world. It should have been in a better way, but unfortunately we lost the game, but I’m happy to reach this number.

“326 games in the Premier League, the most games for a South American player in history. It’s something special, something that’s difficult to explain.

“To have this kind of record in this league, I have to be proud of that. I thank God for that, I thank also my family for helping me to reach this number, and the clubs I was at before, and now Fulham.

“Fulham is a special club. They opened the door to me to be here, and without this opportunity it wouldn’t be possible to reach this number, so I thank Fulham – this is a special club to me.”

Results didn’t go particularly well for the Whites at the weekend if we’re to realise our ambitions this season, but with nine points up for grabs, Willian still has his eyes on a top-eight finish.

“That’s what we want to do, that’s what we want to achieve. That’s our target, next season for Fulham to play in European competition. We have three games left, and we have to go strong for these games and try to play European football next season.

“Three difficult games. In the Premier League we don’t have easy games, only difficult games to play, games that demand a lot of concentration, a lot of focus. We are, of course, capable to do that.

“Let’s see – I think we have to go step by step. Everton next one, then Brentford and [Manchester] City.”