Chelsea winger Willian says he would not be comfortable with the Premier League restarting too quickly amid the coronavirus crisis, even if games were to be played behind closed doors.
European football has been postponed indefinitely because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with associations examining possible ways of concluding the current season in a fair manner.
It looks likely that when football resumes, it will be without fans due to strict restrictions around social distancing and Brazil international Willian says the impact on players also has to be considered.
Willian said, as quoted by Associated Press: “If we restart playing without fans but there’s contact on the pitch and maybe we can spread the virus between us.
“It’s not a bad idea but they have to know very carefully what’s going to happen. Maybe a player can have the virus and we play against each other, you know?
“I play against someone and I get the virus then I go home after the game to stay with my family and pass the virus to my wife or daughters. So we have to be careful about that.”
Willian is currently back with his family in Sao Paulo, having initially had to go into self-isolation in London as Chelsea and the other Premier League clubs try to work out the best way of concluding the 2019-20 campaign.
An additional complication for Willian is that his contract with the Blues expires on June 30. FIFA have recommended that all contracts be extended until the 2019-20 season is played to a conclusion, and the player says he is happy to keep playing for the Stamford Bridge club until the current campaign is over.
Willian said: “I want to give everything for Chelsea until the end like I always did, until the end of my contract, until the end of the league.
“I have to discuss with the club to see what we are going to do, but for me, from my side, I have no problem to play until the end of the season.”
The virus has hit particularly close to home for Chelsea, with forward Callum Hudson-Odoi among the very first Premier League players to reveal they had tested positive for Covid-19.
Indeed, he had played alongside Willian and his other Chelsea team-mates against Everton three days earlier in what was their final match before the season was suspended but the Brazilian insists he had not shown any symptoms.
Willian said: “We shook hands and hugged each other. So after that when he tested positive for the coronavirus I think everyone was worried about it. But none of us felt any symptoms.”