How Arsenal spent £22.5m on Willian for just one Premier League goal
Martin Macdonald
- Updated: 7 Feb 2022 17:42 GMT
- 5 min read
In one of the more controversial transfers of the summer of 2020, Arsenal signed Brazilian winger Willian from London rivals Chelsea.
The transfer was remarkable for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it was a deal that saw Willian move to a rival of Chelsea's - and it did not go down well on either side of the divide.
Secondly, Willian was 32 at the time of the deal and some sceptics said that went against Mikel Arteta's growing emphasis on youth.
TRENDING
Thirdly, and most crucially, the finances involved in the deal were staggering.
Willian wanted a three-year contract to remain at Chelsea. When the club only offered him two, that eventually led to his departure, with the Gnners willing to bend to his request.
Not only that, but the Gunners enticed the Brazilian to the Emirates by offering him reported wages of £240,000 per week PLUS a signing-on fee of £10 million.
What was Willian's overall cost to Arsenal?
If you were to add up Willian's wages for the year he was at Arsenal, plus that signing-on fee, you get a figure of around £22.5 million.
And, that isn't even including bonuses for appearances, goals, assists etc.
Willian had a torrid time at Arsenal and was regularly the focus of criticism from fans and pundits for his performances.
He featured 25 times in the Premier League in the 2020/21 season, with 16 of those coming from starts and nine from the bench.
In those 25 appearances, he scored just a single goal, though did record a respectable five assists.
The fact is that Arsenal's outlay on the player cost them £22.5m for a return of just six goal contributions.
To be fair to Willian, he walked away from an astonishing £35m in wages and bonuses as he tore up his contract to secure a return to Corinthians in the summer of 2021.
For appearances in the Premier League, he earned:
£900k per game played for Arsenal (25 appearances)
£22.5m per goal scored (One goal in 25 appearances)
£4.5m per assist (Five assists in 25 appearances)
£1.1m for every shot (20 shots in 25 appearances)
£7.5m for every shot on target (Three on target in 25 appearances)
