'I loved my time at Chelsea but begged to leave Arsenal after just three months'
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A player who won two Premier League titles at Chelsea has revealed he begged to leave Arsenal after just three months.
Brazilian winger Willian established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League during his seven-year spell at Stamford Bridge, winning two league titles as well as the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League.
Willian was a key player for a successful Chelsea team, reaching double digits in four of his seven seasons at the club, including his last in 2019-20.
Chelsea offered Willian a new contract following that season but the winger had his head turned by an even better deal from from Arsenal, who were keen to strengthen Mikel Arteta’s squad at the Emirates Stadium.
As a result he made the move across London and joined Arsenal as a free agent on a three-year deal.
Willian immediately became one of Arsenal’s highest-paid players but he never settled at the Emirates Stadium and agreed to rip up his massive contract in order to leave just a year later.
He later described his spell at Arsenal as the ‘worst time’ of his career and revealed he wanted out just three months after joining the Gunners.
‘I wasn't happy [at Arsenal], I wasn't happy,’ Willian said on Manchester United and England legend Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel. ‘That's why I didn't perform. I don't want to go into the details.
‘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.
‘It was big money that I gave up. 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 was widely praised for giving up an Arsenal contract worth millions in order to leave the club.
After returning to his boyhood club Corinthians, Willian found himself back in the Premier League at Fulham before joining Olympiacos last summer.
In a separate interview with Sky Sports last year, Willian admitted he regretted ever leaving Chelsea.
‘Yeah, I wish I’d never left,’ he said. ‘Of course it’s easy to say now, but when I stop and think about all the situations – I say to myself, “I wish I never left”. But that’s life.’
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