Arsenal
Image credit: Getty Images
Willian has revealed that his time at Arsenal was so miserable that he pleaded with his agent to help him leave just three months after joining the club.
Before his ill-fated spell with the Gunners, Willian enjoyed a highly successful seven-year stay at Chelsea, where he made 339 appearances, scored 63 goals, and provided 58 assists. His move across London to Arsenal was seen as a major coup for Mikel Arteta’s side, and he arrived at the Emirates full of optimism after signing a three-year contract.
However, the excitement quickly faded. Within a few months, Willian realised things weren’t working out and was already looking for a way out.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand on his YouTube channel in 2021, he said: “I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t happy. That’s why I didn’t perform. I don’t want to go into the details. When I arrived there I was happy, from the beginning I was motivated, I wanted to do well, new club, new mates, new project.
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“But after three months, I said to my agent, ‘Please, I want to go.’ I don’t want to speak bad about the club, because it is a big club. Arsenal has a big history. In football, big players played there before as well. But it didn’t work, it didn’t work. It was, of course, the most difficult time of my career.”
Arsenal
Former Arsenal forward Willian (Image credit: Getty Images)
Willian ultimately decided to walk away from his £240,000-a-week deal, terminating his contract just one year into the three-year agreement, a move that reportedly cost him around £20.5 million.
Reflecting on that decision, he said: “It was big money that I gave up. But sometimes money is not the most important thing in life. I think you need to be happy, get pleasure every day waking up in the morning to go to train. I wasn’t having that.
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“So I said to myself, with my family, I cannot stay here, I am not happy here. I have to leave, find a way out, leave the club, because if I stay I am going to stay the same. For me, it’s unfair to stay in a place that you don’t want to stay just because of the money. For me, it was that.”
The former Brazil international admitted that he had initially hoped to remain at Chelsea but was disappointed by their contract offer. He explained: “It was difficult to decide, because I wanted to stay at Chelsea. But I wanted a three-year contract and Chelsea say, ‘No we want to give you two years.’ So it was like this: they say two, I say three, they say two, I say three.
“At the end of the season, I decided to join Arsenal and also because before we had conversations with Edu and Mikel [Arteta] as well. They showed me a good project, they showed me a lot of good stuff that they want to do. It was because of that. I say well, I want three years, Arsenal wants to give me three years, I want to stay in England, I want to stay in London, my family is happy in London, maybe it is a good opportunity to go there and continue what I am doing.”
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