Willian has left Arsenal. The 33-year-old has agreed to rip his contract up as he heads back home to Brazil to sign for Corinthians. And some things have been said.
The Gunners will be delighted to get the former Chelsea man off their wage bill and in a statement on the club's official website, the player has admitted he has took the action to walk away without a pay-out on his reported 200K weekly deal, mainly to show that he didn't sign in North London for financial reasons.
But its not just those comments that ring true. Willian, who arrived at the club having won two Premier League titles, and one FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup a piece since arriving in England from Shaktar Donetsk in 2013, says he feels his time at Arsenal was a failure as he couldn't help the club to silverware.
Advert
"All my career I have done everything to be the best I can be. I always want to win and I find it hard to accept not doing so. Unfortunately it didn't happen for me at Arsenal and I am sorry about that."
Willian did not featured for the club this season as they lost their opening three league games. He scored once in 37 appearances. In an honest message penned to the club's supporters he wanted to get his message across.
"I would like to thank Arsenal for the opportunity they have given to me and for the warm welcome received by everybody at the club. Unfortunately things on the pitch didn't go the way we had planned had hoped, I received a lot of criticism especially from some members of the press that I had come here for financial reasons. I hope it teaches some people that they should not be so quick to pass judgement and create bad environments to make themselves important though I accept that's part of the game."
Fair play, he's made his point and in turn has saved the club 20m. And in the spirit of comeback season which has seen Ronaldo return to Manchester United and Troy Deeney go home to his hometown club of Birmingham City, Willian will do the same. He started his career at Corinthians in 2006 before his depature to Ukraine and will look to find a new source of energy in his home country.
Topics: Willian, Arsenal, Chelsea, Arsenal Fan TV, Mikel Arteta, Brazil
