I wanted to leave Arsenal after 3 months - Willian lifts lid on 'most difficult' period of his career

Former Arsenal winger Willian has given a harrowing account of his time with Mikel Arteta's side following a failed move to North London. The Brazilian ace revealed that things went sour very quickly at the Emirates Stadium as he never settled nor felt comfortable at the club. 

The 33-year-old winger moved to Arsenal from London rivals Chelsea on a free transfer ahead of the 2020/21 season after spending seven years with the Blues. Willian spent only one season with the Gunners, choosing to leave the club by mutual consent after signing on for three years initially.

The former Brazilian international has now revealed that the euphoria and optimism of joining a new club ended after just three months. The two-time Premier League winner stated that he was not happy at Arsenal and this was what ultimately affected his performance.

"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. 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," Willian told Rio Ferdinand on the defender's Vibe with Five podcast.

Willian revealed that he informed his agent he wanted to leave the club after just three months at the Emirates Stadium. The 33-year-old was diplomatic on speaking bad about the club but he stated that his time with Arsenal was the most difficult time of his career.

Willian said: "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."

Arsenal's technical director Edu noted that the decision to let Willian go was taken immediately after the season when the winger revealed that he was not comfortable at the club.

Edu said earlier: "In the end of the season, me and Mikel say ‘how are you? Because we need you much more consistent, what’s happening?’ and he said he was not 100 per cent comfortable.

"When I listened to that and when Mikel listened to that we made the decision to say ‘Okay, we don’t want a player here that is not 100 per cent comfortable, not 100 per cent with the team, it is my business to try and find the best solution.”

Willian secured a move to his boyhood club Corinthians in August 2021, returning to the Brazilian Serie A 14 years after leaving for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. The ex-Chelsea star featured nine times for Corinthians, chipping in two assists to help the club to a fifth-place finish on the log.