Former Arsenal Player Tells Rio Ferdinand He Wanted To Leave Emirates Only THREE Months After Signing

Former Chelsea star Willian has revealed that he was “not happy” at Arsenal and informed his agent that he wanted to leave the club only three months after signing.

The 33-year-old Brazilian winger spent seven seasons at Chelsea and made 339 appearances for the club before leaving in the summer of 2020.

Willian lifted two Premier League titles, a Europa League, an FA Cup and a League Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal snapped up the former Brazil international on a free transfer, with Willian struggling to replicate his best form during his only season at the Emirates.

Willian made 37 appearances for the Gunners across all competitions and scored only once and registered seven assists.

Arsenal terminated the former Gunners player’s contract back in August and he made his return to boyhood club Corinthians.

PA

Speaking to Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, Willian candidly opened up on his ill-fated spell at Arsenal and how it “didn’t work” out for him.

“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,” he said on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.

“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.”

PA

Willian signed a lucrative three-year deal with Arsenal believed to be worth around £200,000 a week.

However, the Corinthians player insisted that money is “not the most important thing in life” and wanted to leave Arsenal to rediscover his love for football.

“Yeah, 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 said.

“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.”

Topics: Willian, Arsenal, Football, Premier League, England, Rio Ferdinand

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

@AdnanRiaz9