Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has played down reports that Willian is going to be the next number 10 at the Blues.
With Eden Hazard having left the club this summer, the number has been up for grabs and there are plenty of candidates to take on the famous number.
New man Christian Pulisic has a claim for the shirt, while football.london understands the number has also been discussed with Callum Hudson-Odoi around his new contract negotiations.
However, Willian claimed during a video in Brazil that he was set to take on the shirt number now that Hazard has moved on to Real Madrid.
"Number ten is now mine. The club has said it will change [my shirt number] and it will be mine," Willian told Desimpedidos .
"I have always liked playing with number ten. Since I was a kid playing indoors football, I have always used the number ten.
"At Corinthians I was also number ten."
However, following Chelsea's 2-1 win over Barcelona in Japan, new head coach Lampard has played down the rumours that Willian will be the new number 10.
"There's no confirmation of that decision, but it will be taken in due course," Lampard said. "I didn't see the interview but I did hear about it.
"Hopefully his return to training date is early August. He needed a bit of a break as well and we're controlling that and making sure he's getting his rehab during that break.
"I'm hopeful he will come and train with us early August and he'll get up to a level pretty quickly and be available for selection."
