Transfer rumor: Willian in talks with Corinthians

It would be hard to script a worse start for Arsenal this season. Injuries, illness, and losses abound, and Mikel Arteta’s seat is heating up at a rapid rate. Compounding the underwhelming start have been the looming pieces of deadwood still floating aimlessly around the roster. With the number of incoming players, Arsenal were going to need find buyers for a number of players to free up wage space and move on from players with no place in Mikel Arteta’s rebuild.

With a week left until the summer transfer window closes, the fire sale has started. Since yesterday’s abysmal outing against Chelsea, the outgoing news has picked up. Sead Kolasinac has begun talks with Fenerbache where he could once again reprise his role as Mesut Ozil’s personal bodyguard. Lucas Torreira looks to be headed back to Italy, with a loan to Fiorentina with an obligation to buy in the works. And now, it looks like the end of the Willian era is coming to a merciful end with multiple reports that the want-away winger could be headed to Brazilian side Corinthians.

The Willian fiasco is undoubtedly set to go down as one of the worst transfers in Arsenal’s history and will be, to many, emblematic of the Gunner’s worst Premier League season in history. After joining the Gunners from Chelsea following his most productive season for the Blues, he gave the Arsenal fanbase false hope with an opening match day brace of assists in a 3-0 thrashing of Fulham. Sadly, that ended up being his best performance in an Arsenal shirt. The real kicker is that, despite performing well below expectations, he still managed to be Arsenal’s assist leader last season, which says more about last season than his performance.

After putting in a total of 90 lackluster minutes of match time in the pre-season, it was clear that the writing was on the wall. Further more, he seemed to leave little doubt how he felted when liked a post by Chelsea following their victory over Arsenal.

In all honesty, it doesn’t matter where Willian ends up. His transfer should have never happened in the first place. He failed to replicate even a fraction of his form at Chelsea and added little to Arsenal’s side. Granted, Arteta’s tactics have not shown to improve any attacker’s prowess, but you certainly expect more from a veteran of his caliber. His £190k per week put him on the third highest wages behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Thomas Partey, which is a travesty in and of itself.

I doubt Arsenal will drag their feet with this. The player wants out, the club will want to clear up funds, and the sooner it gets done, the better for all parties.