Barcelona fail with £50m bid for Premier League ace

Barcelona are understood to have failed with a £50m bid to sign Willian from Chelsea. The Brazil international has been with the west London giants for the past five seasons and he happened to enjoy his best campaign last term, scoring 13 goals across all competitions.
Despite this, his future remains uncertain heading into the crunch phase of the transfer window and The Mail has now dropped a surprise contender in the form of Spanish champions Barcelona.
As per the publication, the Catalan giants had made an offer worth £50m for the Brazilian footballer but the offer was not deemed sufficient to convince the Blues into a probable sale.
Willian has not managed to cement a regular starting role under Antonio Conte over the past couple of seasons but he has still remained committed to the Blues, who have made him a better player.
As such, the departure of the Brazilian would certainly be a surprise, though the Blues may still be tempted to accept a sizeable offer for a player, who will have turned 30 by the start of next season.
Aside from Barcelona, Manchester United are also understood to hold an interest in Willian owing to the presence of former Blues boss Jose Mourinho but the Mancunian giants have yet to make an approach for the summer.
Nonetheless, the transfer of any senior players appear to have been put on hold for the moment with the Blues yet to confirm the signing of a new head coach, who could replace Conte.
Conte has been tipped to leave Stamford Bridge ever since the club’s failure to make the top-four last season but there has so far been little movement in terms of securing a possible successor.
Former Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri has been highlighted as the prime target over the past month but the Blues have yet to negotiate a compensation package to release him from his contract with the Serie A club.