I think it sounds unrealistic he would go to Arsenal for less than Chelsea offers only because he got 3 years instead of 2. Maybe the rumour is incorrect or there is a large sign-on bonus.

Remember that the games post-covid of Willian are some of the best of most consistent ones he's had, this does not necessarily reflect his performance level through the years at chelsea.

I love the guy, has been serviceable and got some good skills but can also be frustrating. Just want to point out there's a reason why he's been on/off the bench over the years

However £100k seems fine looking at Arsenal wag bill but surprised given he was on more at Chelsea

I don't expect Willian to start *that* many games for Arsenal either.

Would have thought there'd be better options for Arsenal than Willian all things considered.


Leaks that Pogba is "very happy" and "never thought about leaving" hitting the web. No doubt Madrid have had to change plans due to covid/Bale/Hazard and no longer interested in paying whatever it would take to get him. Prob saving it for a run at Mbappe down the line.

Willian is a frustrating player, but he has has been the rock of this 2019/2020 squad and carried it through its who hell he phase.

Other players have hit higher highs but have played much less.

His main attribute other than work rate is just being an amazing ball carrier, picking the ball up deep in friendly territory and carrying it deep into enemy territory on pace alone. He is in a middle ground after this, some players have been able to do the above with horrible final ball, Willians final ball is OK, and that is where the frustration creeps in because there is the ghost of could be brilliant in his final contributions, but at least consistently, this is never realised.

Remember, Willian already did the Anzhi experiment. Probably has kids now and wanted to stay in/retire in London.

We have struggled with getting the ball into the final third, think he would work better with Pepe/Auba than Lacazette does against bottom half teams.

i think fede valverde is the main reason madrid are no longer interested

Oh make no mistake. Willian's signing is the equivalent of getting Aldi frozen pizza for a party.

Doubt many Arsenal fans will be too excited about this.

Coutinho is much more interesting in my view.

Think Willian is being underated a bit here by some. He looks to be in pretty good condition for his age and I'd think you would get a minimum of 2 out of the 3 years at a high level. I would have been happy to have him.

Think he will start a lot at Arsenal, I mean he's probably instantly one of their top 2 or 3 players.

Willian is for SURE starting unless he turns into an Alexis. The problem is his age and, possibly, his motivation. But i imagine we get 1 good season out of him at least.
Willian - Auba - Pepe is without question the front trio most of the time.

If you think that, you *have* to sell Lacazette. Which, I'm fine with if the price is right and the money gets invested into a midfielder. Willian isn't young, but he was the best or second best attacker at a rival this past season. He's good at stuff our team is lacking. I'm happy we got him, but our squad needs so much work i can't be excited over one player. Instead im doing things like thinking "can Willian of Saka play as an 8?"

Been reported AMN/Torreirra are also on the way out, so that genuinely only leaves Xhaka as a first team midfielder in contract and good graces right now. Ceballos is in limbo, Guendouzi is going.

The Athletic say Chelsea want to sign Rice...to play CB

Well, this sounds like exactly, precisely what we are severely lacking and need most. As long as he can actually get it into the final third, Pepe and Auba (and maybe Coutinho?) are more than capable of banging in worldies. It's probably his last big contract so I just hope he still puts in the effort. We were linked to Ryan Fraser last summer, so nothing can be worse than that.

willian seems super underrated, i don't get it

coutinho on the other hand ... lol


he's also prob a perfect fit for arse tbh npi

Time to bring this baller to the Carpet.

He's 22, so he's probably just old enough to associate Arsenal with French legends and beautiful football. The next crop of kids will probably have no idea, which makes me sad.

Reports suggesting Coutinho agreed personal terms w Arsenal. We prefer a loan while Barca would want to sell immediately.

There's no way we'd sign him permanently. How much is he? 50m and 250k p/w?
The rumoured 10m for 1 year(including wages) sounds way better.

@PC - love Aouar, but doubt he'd wanna go to Arsenal. Kid is too good for us.

Cavani to Benfica, lolengerlund etc

I think Guimaraes is the one from Lyon that Arse should target reallisticaly. I wouldn't mind him in our midfield right now.

Liverpool selling Coutinho for 140m or whatever 30 months ago seems unbelievable.

Hope Barca turn into the next AC Milan as soon as Messi retires. It’s what they deserve for tapping up all these players, getting them to force a move and then just throwing them in the trash a year later.

the problem with coutinho was they didnt tap him up. he signed a new 5 year contract 6 months before they tried to buy because theyre idiots with no plan who didnt tell him not to sign da ting

They clearly tapped him up. They're just so poorly run that they waited until after he signed that contract to do it.

Lacazette is set to leave for Atletico apparently. I absolutely love the guy, perhaps joined us a couple years too late, but given his all and scored in some really important games.

All the luck to him should this materialize.

We seem to be moving forward with the other deals (Brazilians only this window it seems). Still most excited about Coutinho and possibly having proper CBs for next season.

Hope noone else gets fired in the meantime to fund 2 weeks of wages for one of these players.

Yeah, it seems that if you can get rid of Laca for some decent cash (some sources are saying £30m) then you'd feel less bad about giving Auba a new deal.

Yep esp if it also means auba plays central. That will get more mileage out of him long term.