Last night, when the news about Corinthians’ wish to sign Willian from Arsenal came up, we saw several Brazilian journalists getting some quick information on the player’s situation with the Gunners.
Most of them claimed that the South American side are indeed interested in the signing, although the winger would rather stay in Europe for now.
Now with a little more time, big outlets in Brazil were able to build more complete stories about this scenario. And even Willian’s father went live on TV to speak about the chances of a move back to his country.
So starting with UOL, they say Arsenal’s plans ‘displeased Willian’. It’s said he was promised an ‘ambitious project to be a protagonist in English football’ when he joined, with a big salary and as the biggest signing of that summer.
Now with the Gunners out of the Champions League and with two defeats in two games, both with him left out of the team, the situation has ‘irritated’ the 33-year-old, who ‘asked to be negotiated with some other European side’.
Corinthians are said not to be ruled out, but will remain as an alternative, while they keep monitoring the situation.
They say Willian had a chat with Arsenal director Edu Gaspar and ‘exposed a series of dissatisfactions with the club’s sports project that motivated him to ask to leave’. That’s why the Gunners accepted to release him from his contract.
The problem for Corinthians, however, continues to be his preference for Europe and his wages. The winger would need to take a huge pay cut, or the London side would need to keep paying part of his salary during a loan.
Finally, live on Arena SBT last night, Willian’s dad talked about the situation. Severino Vieira, who is a big Corinthians fan and has strong bonds with the club, was able to give a detailed picture of the situation.
“There are things that money doesn’t buy. Playing for Corinthians is priceless. Today, they could afford. Corinthians are cleaning up the squad and two, three players who leave already pay for it, even because William would come for free,” he said (via UOL).
“He’s really not happy, otherwise he wouldn’t want to leave. He has proposals from Europe, but it’s no secret that we want him to end his career at Corinthians. Today, everything depends on Corinthians making the proposal and Arsenal releasing him.
“If it depended on my taste, he’d go back to Corinthians, wear the 10! But he’s a professional, and he knows about his career.”
