DBasia.news – Arsenal managed to complete the transfer of Chelsea midfielder Willian de Borges. The Brazilian midfielder is under contract for three years with a salary reportedly reaching 220 thousand pounds per week. Willian revealed his reasons for accepting the proposal from Arsenal.
The news of the move for the 32-year-old attacking midfielder has circulated in recent months. This followed the tough negotiations for a contract extension with The Blues regarding the duration.
Finally, all the question marks were answered after Arsenal officially announced their success in recruiting Willian. Not a few who feel strange about Arsenal’s decision to dare to pay Willian high and a three-year contract.
With a salary of 220 thousand pounds, Willian is now the second highest paid player at Arsenal, behind Mesut Ozil who is paid 350 thousand pounds per week. Willian’s salary is even above The Gunners’ scoring machine Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who receives 200 thousand pounds each week. Although there is also news that Willian will receive a fee of around 100 thousand pounds.
But Willian did not mention the large salary as the reason for leaving for Arsenal. The player with full name of Willian Borges da Silva revealed that he wanted to bring back the reputation of The Gunners which had recently faded.
“I decided to join because Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in the world. They have a new project with Mikel Arteta. I arrived to try to win trophies because this club deserves to be champions again,” said Willian.
“I think this club deserves to shine again and I want to be a part of this project, being part of the Arsenal family is incredible. I’m happy to do it.”
The duration of the contract that The Gunners gave to the 32-year-old player is quite surprising, because he is considered to be no longer young. But Arteta believes Willian can prove his quality.
“I believe he is a player who can really make a difference for us. We’ve been monitoring him for the last few months,” Arteta told the club’s official website.
“We have the desire to strengthen the position of attacking midfield and wing and he’s a player who gives us a lot of flexibility. He can play in three or four different positions.”
Willian has been with Chelsea since 2013, after The Blues dismissed him from Anzhi Makhachkala. During his seven years at Stamford Bridge, Willian won two Premier League trophies, one Europa League and the FA Cup.