After swapping Chelsea for Arsenal in 2020, Willian experienced a tough stint in north London that lasted only a year – a complete contrast to the spell he cherished at Fulham. Willian has never regretted his decision to leave millions of pounds on the table by terminating his Arsenal contract and joining Fulham a year later.
After seven years with Chelsea, the former player left the club in 2020. Wanting to continue in the Premier League, the Brazilian was able to accomplish so by signing a three-year free agent contract with Arsenal.
The 36-year-old was reputedly paid £240,000 per week, although he only stayed with the Gunners for a year, scoring one goal in 37 games in all competitions. They finished eighth in the league and missed out on European contention for the first time since 1994/95. Despite having two years left on his enormous contract, which would have paid him £20.5 million until 2023, Willian chose to leave the club and shred up his contract rather than request a pay-off.
The two-time Premier League winner later acknowledged that he urged Arsenal to mutually end his contract, allowing him to return home to Brazil and play with boyhood club Corinthians. He returned to the English top.
A year later, he joined Fulham, where he spent two seasons and had nothing but positive things to say about. “When I left Arsenal, everyone knows it was not good,” he told The Telegraph earlier this year. “It was a rough year for me; I decided to leave, and at the time, I still had two years on my deal, so I just told them, ‘Listen, let’s break the contract. It has not worked as we had hoped.
“I’ll go somewhere else and continue playing football.” I turned things around, and three years later, I’m still enjoying myself at this club. It’s a fantastic club, to be honest.”
Giving up millions of dollars is a risky move, and the Olympiacos winger took it despite being told it would be “crazy”. The winger acknowledged he was satisfied with his decision because money was not a top priority in his life.
“People were saying to me ‘you are crazy,” according to him. “You can’t give up this type of money. They said, “Any other player in your position would never do that.” They’d sit on the contract and collect the money. Something like that.
“But I do not think about money. I understand how vital money is. However, it is not the first time this has happened in my life. For me, God comes first. Then my family, and then football. Then the other things. But I was unhappy, so I chose to go.”
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