Willian makes honest admission on struggles during his time at Arsenal

Some things are never meant to be, and the same applies to football. With that in mind, we can say Willian’s move to Arsenal perfectly fits the bill. After the Brazilian joined the Gunners on a three-year deal in the summer of 2020, it left a whole lot of fans and pundits confused.

It was a move that saw much criticism, and it turned out to be somewhat justified at the end of the day. Willian failed to inspire for Arsenal in any way and was more or less their worst player at the time he was there.

A hat-trick of assists on his debut was followed by blanks where the Brazilian went up to 30 games without a single goal or assist to show for.

It was no longer a case of if but when Arsenal were finally going to let go of the player. It made for a worse narrative that he joined the Gunners from Chelsea. Over recent years, Arsenal have signed a number of ‘rejects’ from Chelsea, and they never ended up well at the club. The fact that Willian made that narrative add up even more, made for a very sad story.

However, Willian made a decision that ensured he left the Premier League on a high. After apparent struggles on and off the pitch, the Brazilian decided to tear up his contract with the club.

A statement on the Arsenal website did confirm that Willian left the club by mutual consent, meaning he saved the Gunners £20.5m. Even more respectable was the fact that he took a 70 per cent pay cut to rejoin former native side Corinthians, where it alld for him.

Willian has now opened up on what was a very difficult time for him at the Emirates.

What Willian has said

Speaking after Corinthians’ 2-1 derby win at the weekend, Willian took time to give a little insight on his time at Arsenal.

In an interview with Arena SBT as quoted by Sports Witness, the 33-year-old admitted he was unable to cope with life at Arsenal and couldn’t adapt to the club.

Willian further added that it was more a case of him wanting to leave the club and not the other way around. He further concluded his comments by saying that the move was not motivated by money in the first place but simply because he wanted a new challenge in familiar surroundings.

Since moving back to the Brazilian Serie A, Willian has played 142 minutes of action for Corinthians and is yet to score or drop an assist so far.