And yet this will be Willian's next stop, despite his best efforts to go elsewhere.
Still, it seemed like the logical thing for Willian to do was stay put until the summer.
The other concern was that was that Shakthar would offer Willian a new deal at some point in the next 18 months.
Even if Willian had a stellar second half, it was by no means guaranteed that a big club in a big league would meet his price tag.
But the league places a limit on foreign players, so it was no sure thing that Anzhi would still have a slot for Willian had he waited.
Willian's cross-shot forced Victor Valdes to smartly tip over and then Douglas Costa sent Adriano clean through, the 23-year-old wastefully toe-poking his golden opportunity wide from 12 yards.
The script then would have called for Willian to establish himself as a bona fide star on the European scene and clinch a lucrative move to one of the continent's big leagues.
Despite falling behind so early, Shakhtar gave a good account of themselves in the opening stages, with Willian's pace down the left testing Alves and Luiz Adriano posing a constant problem as the focal point of the visitors' attacks.
Willian Borges da Silva, the 24-year-old Brazilian superstar known as Willian, represents a certain archetype: the one who leaves his country at a young age and moves for a big fee to one of soccer's nouveau-riche clubs in Eastern Europe.
Longtime Chelsea target Willian leveled in the ninth minute but fellow Brazilian midfielder Oscar gave the home team the halftime advantage with a superb long-range volley after Pyatov - racing out of his area -- headed a clearance straight into his path.
Willian equalized again straight after the break with an almost carbon copy of his first goal, this time with his left foot, but Chelsea hit back again as John Obi Mikel had a goal ruled out for offside and then 21-year-old Nigeria forward Moses followed up his goal in Saturday's Premier League draw with Swansea.
But in some ways Willian epitomizes the current state of flux at the highest level of the game: new money flowing in from the edges of Europe, most of the continent's nobility hunkering down in anticipation of Financial Fair Play, the rest knowing they can pick and choose in what's now a buyer's market of falling transfer prices.
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