‘He is the best I have ever seen’: Bernd Leno raves about £40,000-a-week star who left Arsenal for nothing
Bernd Leno saw Willian really struggle at Arsenal when they were teammates at the Emirates, but the German is now seeing his class at Fulham.
Mikel Arteta signed the Brazilian from Chelsea on a free transfer in the summer of 2020. Bringing in an experienced player like him to help Arsenal’s young squad made a lot of sense, but things just didn’t go to plan.
Willian terminated his contract at Arsenal in 2021 and left the club for free.
Bernd Leno hails old Arsenal teammate Willian
Willian, who is paid £40,000-a-week (Spotrac) now at Fulham, earned six times that at Arsenal, but when things didn’t work out, he gave the rest of his contract up and agreed to walk away for free. That earned him a lot of praise from Gunners fans when he left.
The Brazilian’s career at the top level was deemed by many to be over after his spell at the Emirates, but Willian, as he has done many times before, has proven people wrong.
The now 34-year-old is at Fulham and he is having a sensational season. He has three goals and three assists to his name in 17 Premier League starts, and has been excellent for Marco Silva’s side.
Leno, who has known Willian since his Arsenal days, is in awe of him.
The German told Goal: “Willian is the best. He’s 34 years old, but he looks like 25 years old and everything. And he’s still very sharp.
“He’s he understands the game and he had a great career, but he’s still working hard every day to perform at the weekend. And that’s very impressive.”
Our View:
It really is strange that things did not work out for Willian at Arsenal.
He knew the Premier League very well, had tons of experience under his belt and played alongside very good players at the Emirates. All signs pointed towards success when the Gunners signed him for free, but it was a disaster.l
Willian scored just one goal for Arsenal that season. He just didn’t look like his usual self, and that infuriated everyone who supported the Gunners.
It was the best thing for all parties to part ways in 2021, and both Arsenal and Willian are flying now.
