Willian's Historic 300 Appearances

Willian achieved a unique milestone on Wednesday night, becoming the first Brazilian in history to make 300 Premier League appearances.

He marked the occasion in style, too, setting up Alex Iwobi for the opener with a beautiful in-swinging cross.

“It means a lot,” Willian said at full-time. “It was not easy to achieve this number, but I’m proud of it. I just want to continue doing the things that I normally do.

“I think we played very well, it was an amazing performance by the whole team, and we deserve the three points.

“This is the best league in the world. I don’t know if I’m going to reach another 300 games because I’m 35 now, but I’m enjoying a lot – every game, every training session, and I just want to carry on in the same way.”

It’s apt that he marked the milestone with an assist, as his goal contributions in the Premier League have been sensational over the last 10 years.

🔵 Chelsea: 234 apps, 37 goals, 39 assists

🔴 Arsenal: 25 apps, 1 goal, 5 assists

⚪️ Fulham: 41 apps, 8 goals, 7 assists

To put Willian’s achievement into context, the closest a Brazilian had previously got to hitting 300 Premier League appearances was his former Shakhtar Donetsk teammate Fernandinho, who represented Manchester City 264 times in the competition.

In terms of current players who could surpass Willian’s record, City goalkeeper Ederson is best placed on 231 appearances, with Richarlison (211) and Gabriel Jesus (195) next on the list.