Chelsea winger Willian has warned Premier League chiefs that they risk bringing the game into disrepute by returning football soon amid the coronavirus crisis and says even Liverpool players won't be concerned about winning the title right now.
A meeting of the top-flight bosses on Friday indicated that they were eyeing a June 8 resumption of the league, with the prospect of completing the season by playing games behind closed doors being considered as a resolution.
But the Brazilian feels the spectacle of England's elite league will be tarnished if it is played out without fans, while he pointed out that the primary focus for everyone right now should be the health of themselves and their close ones.
'Football without fans is no fun. I've heard that at we could return with closed gates, with no public in the stadiums. If it is necessary and if we must play for the good of all, it must be done,' Willian told Brazilian publication Folha.
Much has been made of how best to finish the season in order to allow Liverpool to confirm the Premier League title they have all-but confirmed, but Chelsea man insisted even the players won't be concerned about being crowned champions right now.
'Even Liverpool players themselves, if you ask them, will say that they are concerned about their own health and that of their families. Not with the English title,' he added.
The 31-year-old indicated he has no interest in returning to players before it is deemed completely safe to do so, and pointed out that money should not be placed over health in importance.
'I reflect and thank God that my family and I are healthy. You may think that I am a football player and I am well, but this virus affects everyone, regardless of who you are.
'Money does not buy your health and many people have died from this disease.
Willian admitted that it is has been strange without football and opened up on the struggle of having to isolate after team-mate Callum Hudsoin-Odoi tested positive for coronavirus while his family were in Brazil.
'I realised that the coronavirus was serious when reading the news that it had arrived in Europe. But there was a moment when it really felt real for all of us – when Hudson-Odoi tested positive.
'The club told all of us that we would have to be quarantined, inside the house, without contact with anyone. My family was in Brazil and I was alone for 14 days, locked up.
'I tried to find a way to train, which was difficult because in London I live in an apartment. As soon as those two weeks were over, I looked for leaders and asked them to release me to return to Brazil. They agreed.'