Brazilian star Willian has given his reasons why he decided to leave Chelsea for London rivals Arsenal.
Following the expiration of Willian’s Chelsea contract, he signed for Arsenal on a three-year deal which is believed to be worth £150,000-a-week.
Speaking to club media, Arsenal Digital, Willian highlighted Mikel Arteta as a key reason in his decision to move across London and gave an insight into the versatility that made the Spaniard want to sign him.
“[I like] the way they play, everything is amazing – the stadium, and I think that with Arteta, Arsenal have a great opportunity to fight again for titles in the Premier League and in Europe so I’m very happy because of that.
“I’m excited to start. I can’t wait to go on the pitch and do my thing to help my team-mates and to help this club to shine again. That’s what I want.
“When I talked to [Mikel], the conversation was good, he gave me confidence to come to Arsenal. He said a lot of good things to me and that’s why I have come to Arsenal.
On the position he will play at Arsenal, Willian said: ”That’s a difficult question – I don’t know! I leave that to Arteta. I come to help in every position.
“I can play on the right, I can play in the middle, I can play on the left side as well. So I want to help – in any position where they put me to play, I will try to do my best.”
And for Arteta he believes Willian will make the difference for his side.
“I believe he’s a player that can really make a difference for us,” the Arsenal head coach said.
“We have been monitoring him for the past few months, we had a clear intention to strengthen in the attacking midfielder and the winger positions [and] he is a player that gives us a lot of versatility, he can play in three or four different positions.
“He has the experience of everything in the football world but to still have the ambition to come here and contribute to bring the club where it belongs. I have been really impressed with all the talks I have had with him and how much he wanted to come.”
