Football journalist David Ornstein has shared an update on Arsenal’s reported transfer interest in Chelsea winger Willian.
This comes after Ornstein recently hosted an episode of The Athletic’s Ornstein & Chapman Podcast to go through the latest news concerning a range of Premier League clubs.
On the subject of Arsenal’s interest in Willian, Ornstein shared this latest update on the matter.
He said: “With Arsenal, we’re led to believe a formal offer will be coming imminently of a three-year contract, and that Willian is most inclined to take that. He hasn’t made a final decision yet, but it would appear that that’s his preference and not because of money – because Arsenal are not presenting the biggest financial offer – but what’s appealing about Arsenal to Willian is Mikel Arteta.
“Arteta wants to sign Willian, he’s asked for him to be signed. Willian’s been on Arsenal’s target list for quite some time, but this is now clearly being led by Arteta, who sees Willian as an ideal signing, really. He is 31 going on 32, but that means he brings experience. He can help the young players that Arsenal are trying to develop come through and he can also help bring a winning mentality and culture that Arsenal are trying to build and don’t forget, he comes as a free transfer.”
Willian signed for Chelsea back in 2013 from Anzhi Makhachkala for a fee of £31.95 million.
Since then, the 31-year-old, who is currently valued at £20.25 million according to Transfermarkt, has gone on to make a total of 339 appearances for the west London club in which he has managed to score 63 goals and provide 62 assists along the way.
The 2019/20 Premier League season saw Willian make 36 league appearances for Frank Lampard’s side, in which he scored nine goals and provided seven assists.
Willian’s performances in those league appearances earned him a season rating of 7.31/10, making him Chelsea’s highest-rated performer for the campaign (per WhoScored).
Would signing Willian on a free transfer be good business for Arsenal?
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TIF Thoughts…
It seems as though Willian is likely to be making the move to the Emirates this summer with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta apparently keen on adding the winger to his squad for the upcoming season.
As Ornstein mentioned in the podcast, Willian would add a lot of Premier League experience to Arsenal’s team, having made a total of 234 top-flight appearances for Chelsea since his arrival in England.
Therefore, with the Brazilian set to leave Chelsea on a free, it could arguably be considered a small coup for the Gunners if they were to snap him up from their London rivals.