Willian
is expected to become an Arsenal player by Saturday after his release from
Chelsea.
The 32-year-old left Stamford Bridge at the end of his contract after a
seven years at the club, with Chelsea only willing to offer him a two-year
deal rather than the player's desired three years.
Arsenal moved into pole position to sign the Brazil international by
offering a three-year contract last week, and are on the verge of beating
off competition from Barcelona and Inter Miami.
Along with the length of the deal, joining Mikel Arteta's rejuvenated side
and the chance to work with fellow Brazilian Edu are the reasons Arsenal are
favourites to secure Willian's signature.
Willian made 47 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions and finished the
season in fine form, with four Premier League goals after the restart taking
his tally for the season to nine.
Local foes very rarely choose to do business with each other but in recent
years Arsenal and Chelsea have flouted the unwritten rivalry rules, with
several players having surprisingly moved between the two sides.
With Arsenal understood to have offered Willian a three-year contract offer,
we assess the impact of those who crossed between north and west London.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Willian are on the verge of signing long-term
Arsenal contracts - but is this shrewd business, or are the Gunners
undermining their interests?
That was one of the topics of debate on the latest edition of the Transfer
Talk podcast, where ESPN football expert Gabriele Marcotti joined Sky Sports
News duo Pete Graves and Dharmesh Sheth to discuss the latest major
developments from the summer window.
Analysis: How transfers can help Arteta
build his project
Sky Sports' Alan Smith...
It is often said a new manager will need a couple of transfer windows at
least to shape a team to their liking. It gives the boss a chance to weed
out the unwanted and recruit their favoured sort to create something more in
line with their ideas.
In this regard, Mikel Arteta is no different, even though he has shown an
impressive ability to coach and coax players already at Arsenal into his way
of thinking. That has been quite an achievement considering some had grown
used to a lazy culture where sub-standard performances got continually
overlooked.
No longer. A healthy accountability has livened everybody up. Like all the
top managers, Arteta has started to create an environment that players want
a part of - a crucial step in his early work.
But it is time to move the project forward by adding quality in certain
positions, which is not easy at all when money is tight...
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