Arsenal: Why Mikel Arteta must avoid signing Willian

He may be a free transfer, but Arsenal must not give into signing Willian.

For the last number of months, Arsenal have been linked with Willian on and off. The Chelsea star, whose contract will imminently run out and will be available to snatch for free, is not what the Gunners are looking for.

Mikel Arteta is building a new and very exciting project at Arsenal, which means that his transfer strategy must be prudent and he must be absolutely certain that the players he’s targetting fit the bill. Willian, unfortunately, does not.

See, we should be looking to sign winners, players that want to play for the badge and are excited to play for the badge. Willian, to me, just seems like he wants an easy route to staying in London, and is not too fussed about winning silverware as he is now nearing the end of his career.

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Willian is a typical Arsenal signing of the last few seasons, which is not necessarily a good thing. He is getting old, a cheap option, and one that will have a few good games and then drop out of form. He is very much in the same calibre as Stephan Lichtsteiner, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Petr Cech.

Arsenal’s trajectory is on the rise, and with a fresh new manager, they need fresh new ideas. The board can’t go back to their old habits of signing players like this that won’t benefit the club in the long run for the sake of saving some money. They need to invest in Mikel Arteta’s plans, as he has proven already that he is worthy of all the investment.

If Arsenal can fit Willian alongside plans of bigger and better signings, then sure, by all means, go for it. But if he is simply a cop-out option, then the board seriously need to reevaluate their priorities. After all, Aubameyang could get very annoyed…

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Do you think Arsenal should sign Willian this summer?

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