Revealed: Why Willian was an Arsenal flop
Robin Bairner
- 20 Dec 2021 13:49 CST
- 3 min read
When Willian joined Arsenal from Chelsea in the summer of 2020, hopes were high that the Brazil international might be the player to transform the Gunners into a top-four side.
These were dashed, however, as the veteran attacker struggled to replicate the form he had shown at Stamford Bridge and departed after just a year into a three-season deal.
Willian was on big money but failed to justify that he produced only a single goal and seven assists over the course of a campaign in which he played 37 times.
He has now lifted the lid on why his transfer failed.
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Speaking to Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel FIVE, he said: "I was not happy, that’s why I didn’t perform. I don’t want to go into the details, but I wasn’t happy.
"So, when I arrived there I was happy, from the beginning I was motivated, I wanted to do well, new club, new mates, new projects.
"After three months, I told my agent: 'Please, I want to go.' I don’t want to speak bad about the club because it is a big club, has a big history in football, big players played there before it’s a big club - but it didn’t work, it was of course the most difficult time of my career."
Previously, Willian had hinted at a major falling out with coach Mikel Arteta.
Why Willian gave up big money at Arsenal
Willian, however, won some respect from the manner in which he departed the club, sacrificing two years of his big-money deal to move back to Brazil. This comes in sharp contrast to other players that Arsenal have been saddled with in recent times, with Mesut Ozil the most obvious example.
"It was big money that I gave up – money is not the most important thing in life, you need to be happy, to be getting pleasure and wake up and want to go to training," he added.
"I wasn’t having that, so I said to myself, with my family and my wife: ‘I cannot stay here, I am not happy here, I have to leave and find a way out to leave the club.' For me, it is unfair to stay in a place you don’t want to stay just because of the money."
Willian is now playing with Corinthians in Brazil’s Serie A.
