I joined Arsenal but things changed almost immediately – I wish I never signed for them

Willian previously reflected on his decision to leave Chelsea for Arsenal (Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Former Arsenal winger Willian regretted joining the Gunners after just three months at the club. The Brazilian had become a Chelsea icon during his seven-year stint with the Blues, but endured a disastrous year at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal signed Willian on a three-year deal in 2020 , with the player having taken issue with Chelsea making a two-year offer at the end of his contract.

Bringing in the 32-year-old forward as a free agent could have represented shrewd business for the Gunners , providing competition for Nicolas Pepe and young prospect Bukayo Saka as Mikel Arteta began overhauling his squad.

However, Arsenal and Willian were quickly given a reality check. The Brazil international failed to reach anywhere near his Chelsea form, scoring once in 37 appearances, before being allowed to join his boyhood club Corinthians by mutual consent in 2021. After leaving Arsenal, Willian described his 12 months with the Gunners as the worst spell in his career .

“I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t happy. That’s why I didn’t perform. I don’t want to go into the details,” Willian revealed on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel in 2021.

“When I arrived there I was happy, from the beginning I was motivated, I wanted to do well - new club, new mates, new project.

“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.”

Willian struggled during his year at Arsenal, scoring once and providing seven assists in all competitions (Image: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

In his final season at Chelsea, Willian has started 29 league games and delivered 16 goal contributions, giving Arsenal reasons for optimism. A year later, the winger was willing to sacrifice the remainder of his contract to return to Brazil.

“It was big money that I gave up [to leave Arsenal],” he continued. “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.

“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.”

Willian returned to the Premier League with Fulham in 2022 (Image: GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

The two-time Premier League winner spent a season with Corinthians, where his performances prompted a move to newly-promoted Fulham. Willian relished his return to England, making 79 appearances across two spells with Marco Silva’s side before leaving this summer, but his regret about choosing Arsenal over Chelsea still lingered .

“Yeah. I wish I’d never left [Chelsea]. Yeah,” Willian told Sky Sports in 2023. “Of course, it’s easy to say something now, but when I stop to think about the whole situation then yeah, I say to myself I wish I’d never left. But it’s life. I’m happy now at Fulham - enjoying myself there, so this is life.”

On Arsenal’s fortunes after his exit, Willian added: “They are flying now. I don’t know, I think I came while it was changing a lot. I was excited when I signed with them, I was training hard but it just didn’t work.”