Chelsea and Tottenham look set to miss out on Willian after Shakhtar Donetsk boss Mircea Lucescu revealed he is close to joining Russian giants Anzhi Makachkala, ESPN understands.

The Premier League duo are long-term admirers of the Brazilian international and reports suggested they were both plotting to bring him to England during the summer.

However, their hopes of pursuing Willian later in the year now appear to be dashed after mega-rich Anzhi met Shakhtar's release clause, believed to be £35million, and are close to completing the transfer.

Lucescu confirmed the talented 24-year-old is set to leave the Donbass Arena with immediate effect and conceded there wasn't much he could do to convince the player to remain in Ukraine.

"There is a club willing to pay the release clause in his contract and Willian agreed to move. There is nothing I can do," he said.

"To tell you frankly, I tried to convince him to stay because I think his decision is hasty and not thought out well enough. He is like a son to me.

"He came to Shakhtar almost as a child and leaves us as a 24-year-old man. I told him he would have achieved more with us when we said goodbye.

"Why did he not listen to me? I guess he was under huge pressure from his agent and his relatives that wanted to get everything at once."

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