Arsenal have been linked with a surprise move for Willian.
Willian’s Chelsea future looks in real doubt and transfer rumours linking him with Arsenal might not be as crazy as they sound.
The Brazil international is said to have decided not to sign a new contract at Chelsea, with Arsenal alongside Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain as his potential suitors on a free transfer this summer, according to Le 10 Sport.
Why would Willian necessarily choose us over those other two big names? Well, judging from what he recently told the Players’ Tribune, it could be a tempting option for him to remain in London.
“I have played for Chelsea for more than six years now, and I can honestly say that I am very happy here,” he said.
“If you ask my wife if she wants to leave London, she’ll say no. My daughters feel the same way. Of course, Brazil is Brazil, right? It’s our home, our culture. We always feel good when we go there on holiday and see family and friends. But London is my second home.
“In fact, I recently passed a British citizenship test … As it turned out, I failed on my first two attempts, but got it on the third. I am now a British citizen!
“So London is where I want to stay. This is where I have my family, my church. I want my daughters to grow up here. Whenever I get back to the dressing room, I want to keep seeing their messages. I want to keep hearing their love and encouragement.”
It will be interesting to see how this saga develops, and while Willian isn’t exactly the youngest, he could still have a few years left in the tank and give us a cheap option to strengthen in attack this summer.
Mesut Ozil will probably need replacing, while other attacking midfield players like Nicolas Pepe and Reiss Nelson have not really been consistent enough this season. The addition of Willian could give Mikel Arteta more options and provide a fine example from some of our other players to learn from.
He will be 32 when next season starts, want at least a 2 year contract and a huge wage as he will be on a free. With Ozïl on serious money and Mhiki coming back, also on big bucks, I can’t see it happening. We need to nurture and trust our younger players like ESR, Gabriel, Nelson, Saka and others coming through from the U23s.
Very true GB
Is Mhiki definitely coming back?☹️
Not definitely SueP but have been reading it could happen and that Arteta quite likes him.
If he comes over to Arsenal, nothing like it. He brings with him EPL experience, winning mentality, consistent goal scoring threat, good taker of free kicks and will be a senior advisor to the younger players. Whether Arsenal will be able to afford him is another thing.
Arsenal is not a dumping groud for Chelsea exhausted players. No player that we ever get from chelsea turns out good so we dont need him.
He’s going to be with Jose, so forget about.
It’s not the worst signing. He has 5 goals for Chelsea this season and can still put in a good performance. As a Pepe alternative we could do worse. Problem is are his wages worth it? We may be better using our scouting system and taking a risk on an unknown like we did with Martinelli. We also still have Nelson to consider, who I’m not convinced by, but maybe MA can improve. I’d look at other options before signing Willian but wouldn’t be mad if it happened.
A VERY GOOD PLAYER IS WILLIAN BUT THE LOGISTICS OF HIS AGE, HIS REQUIRED SALARY AND A HUGE PERSONAL FEE TO HIM FOR SIGNING ON A FREE TRANSFER, DO NOT REMOTELY ADD UP TO HIM COMING TO US.
WISH WE HAD HIM ALREADY BUT FORGET THIS SILLY RUMOUR, AS HE IS CLEARLY NEVER COMING TO US. THAT IS OBVIOUS IF YOU BOTHER TO THINK PROPERLY FOR EVEN A MOMENT.