Willian has revealed he asked to leave Arsenal three months after joining, claiming Mikel Arteta was missing the "human part" of management. The winger, who signed for the Gunners in 2020 on a free transfer after leaving Chelsea, was believed to be on a salary of well over £200,000-a-week.
Despite signing a three-year contract, Willian left a year later by mutual consent after scoring just once in 37 appearances.
Arteta's management style
Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, Willian gave an insight into his experience of playing under Arteta. "I have nothing against him," he said. "He's a great coach inside the pitch, his ideas are great but he missed little bits on how to manage the team.
"The human part, he was missing it. It's important, but inside the pitch he is good. I always joke they sold me a dream and it wasn't a good dream."
Decision to leave Chelsea
The season before he joined Arsenal, Willian made 47 appearances for Chelsea and scored 11 goals in all competitions. Asked about the decision to switch from west to north London, Willian said: "Arteta said to me: 'We're going to play like this and I want you to be the main guy, I will build the team around you, I want to give you the key to the club.'
"When I heard that, obviously I love Chelsea but I was in the last year of my contract, I was 32, and I was thinking three more years in London, stay with my family in London, they love London. And then I decided."
Regret and frustration
However, Willian had made his mind up by November that joining Arsenal had been the wrong decision. He "saw the mentality was different" compared to his time at Chelsea and "nobody was pushing" the younger players trying to break into the team.
The following summer he returned to Brazil to join Corinthians, leaving the "best contract of [his] life" due to how unhappy he was at Arsenal. "I got frustrated," Willian said. "I am not saying it is their fault, but when you heard a lot of things and then you join the club, things that are not the same as what they told me, I got frustrated straight away.
"Three months later I said to my agent I want to leave, and that I made a big mistake leaving Chelsea. It didn't work and because of that I couldn't play well or perform because I wasn't happy. When you are not happy you cannot perform. Money cannot buy happiness. It was the best contract of my life there, but I wasn't happy."
