Willian has been one of many players that have been linked with Arsenal in recent weeks with the Chelsea winger out of contract after the current season. The links have been solidified by the fact that the Brazillian has Kia Joorabchian as his agent, someone who’s seen as influential at the club and has a good relationship with Arsenal’s Head of Football Raúl Sanllehí and Technical Director Edu Gaspar.
Mikel Arteta was quoted saying, “If you ask me if I know right now what do I have and how can I do it, I’m sorry but I don’t know because there are a lot of questions that we can not resolve right now with the situation we have.”
“One is financially and the other one is because we do not know if we are in Europe and because we have players that we don’t know what’s going to happen [with them]. That’s the reality,” he added.
Arsenal’s head coach is also informed about Arsenal’s financial restraint this season and that is particularly why Willian is seen as such an attractive package at Arsenal. The Brazillian has been in the Premier League for 7 years and is well settled, his performances have also not been affected by his growing age as he has recorded 16 goal contributions in the current season with 9 goals and 7 assists.
However, the stumbling block for any deal can be his contractual demands as the soon-to-be 32-year-old is demanding a three year long contract, which would mean a contract till he’s 35, surely not the age footballers peak at. This is a deal which can’t be seen as a good or bad in terms of the face value, Willian is still a quality player and he can prove to be handy for an Arsenal team which has lacked creativity all throughout the season, however, Arsenal have been burnt by the same fire far too many times and they would be cautious about offering a long term deal to another ageing star.
