Willian admits Arsenal move 'was big mistake' and he 'had to escape'

The winger had left Chelsea as a free agent at the time and signed for the Gunners. 

However, his ill-fated spell lasted a year and was doomed from the very beginning. 

He told the Five YouTube channel: “I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t happy. That’s why I didn’t perform. I don’t want to go into the details. 

“When I arrived there I was happy, from the beginning I was motivated, I wanted to do well - new club, new mates, new project. But after three months, I said to my agent: ‘Please, I want to go’. I don’t want to speak bad about the club, because it is a big club. Arsenal has a big history. 

“In football, big players played there before as well. But it didn’t work, it didn’t work. It was, of course, the most difficult time of my career." 

“It was big money that I gave up (to leave Arsenal),” he added.  

“But sometimes money is not the most important thing in life. I think you need to be happy, get pleasure every day waking up in the morning to go to train. I wasn’t having that. 

“So I said to myself, with my family, I cannot stay here, I am not happy here. I have to leave, find a way out, leave the club, because if I stay I am going to stay the same. For me, it’s unfair to stay in a place that you don’t want to stay just because of the money. For me, it was that.”