Willian says Chelsea have refused to give up hope that talisman Eden Hazard will be at Stamford Bridge next season, with the Belgian apparently edging closer to a move to Real Madrid.
Hazard fired the winning spot-kick on Thursday as Chelsea edged out Eintracht Frankfurt 4-3 on penalties to book an all-English Europa League final against Arsenal, in what could prove his last act at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgium forward is still expected to join Real in a big-money move this summer, but his Brazilian teammate Willian continues to hope otherwise.
Luka Jovic cancelled out Ruben Loftus-Cheek's strike to take the semi-final second leg into extra time before penalties had to separate the sides with the aggregate score level at 2-2 and one away goal apiece.
Asked if Hazard's decisive penalty could prove his last kick at Stamford Bridge, Willian replied: "I don't know, I don't think so.
"For me I hope he stays, but in football you never know. I think his head is here, to play for Chelsea. Then after he's finished the season maybe he can talk about his situation.
"I don't know anything about him leaving so for me I hope he can stay. He's very important, a special player, he's very important for us, he helps us a lot.
"And he's one of the best players in the world."