"Last year I signed a new contract and I want to stay a long time at Chelsea"

One player who has constantly been linked with a move from Chelsea this summer is Oscar and regular readers of my website would know that I had thought it could have been possible. I was wrong as Oscar has re-iterated his desire to stay with Chelsea for a long time.

I had stated that Oscar could leave the club based on the fact that it always seemed to be him that was substituted in games or if there was a change to the line up, it was Oscar that was dropped to the bench. It just seemed to me that there wasn't something quite right.

We have to also consider that he took part in the World Cup the previous summer so maybe Jose was just protecting him from burn out. It WILL be interesting to see just how many times he plays a full ninety minutes this season though!

So to Oscar and his plans to stay at Chelsea for a considerable time. He is well aware of the reported interest from Juventus as a replacement for Andrea Pirlo but states it was never going to be an option.

He said:

"I know there has been a lot of talk about Juventus, but I am very, very happy at Chelsea. Last year I signed a new contract and I want to stay a long time at Chelsea. I have never been unsettled by what was being said.

I am over the injury and back to full fitness. I have been able to make the start of pre-season and am here to prepare for the season.

This is the first time I have started pre-season and for me this is very, very important.

It is important to stay with the family and friends and the full holiday for me this time is very important because for five years I didn’t have that holiday, and in the last three years I played more than 200 games and this is a lot.

I want to play better and I want to score more goals and to play my best football, because I know my quality and I know for sure I can make this season better than last season."

To have rest is important and the fact that Oscar had to miss the Copa America will be a blessing for him this season. To not have complete rest in the summer for five seasons at such as young age is unreal, imagine how tired you would be!

I really, really hope that Oscar can take the opportunity this year to become even better and force the manager into playing him for 90 minutes much more. He works so hard without the ball and I guess fatigue will always be an issue for everyone, not just Oscar.

However, it's what he gives us when he has the ball by picking out a pass or getting on the end of a flowing Chelsea move to strike the ball home as he did against QPR with the outside of his boot, that's what we want to see more of.

Oscar is staying at Chelsea - great news!