Was not happy and that’s why I didn’t perform at Arsenal, reveals Willian

While a few fans and critics alike were stunned when Arsenal signed Willian, most of the fanbase was please that the Gunners brought in an experienced attacker in the Brazilian. However, the spell soon turned sour as Willian struggled to impress upon his new club and fanbase less than two months into his new three-year contract. It eventually saw the Brazilian leave the club just one year into his three year deal, leaving as a free-agent and signing for Corinthians.

The move and the way things eventually ended between the two parties saw fans and critics hit out both at Willian and at Arsenal, with the forward getting a lot of abuse. However, in an interview with Rio Ferdinand, the 33-year-old has revealed that he wasn’t happy at the club and that’s why he struggled to perform. Willian also added that he was happy when he first arrived, but after three months he wanted to leave.

"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 Presents FIVE.

"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."

With things not working out, Arsenal and Willian eventually came to an agreement over mutually terminating the 33-year-old’s contract last summer. with him giving up a lucrative two-year deal. But Willian admitted that money isn’t important and that he wanted to be happy, which is why he made a decision to leave the club.

"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. 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,” he added.