‘You are crazy’… Premier League attacker says everyone told him he was stupid to leave Arsenal

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Somehow, at the age of 35, Willian is one of the better attackers in the Premier League.

The Brazilian has been amazing for Fulham over the past 18 months, but three years ago, he looked as though he was finished at the top level.

Indeed, the winger had a torrid time of it at Arsenal, and after just one season, he decided to terminate his own contract and head back to Brazil.

At the time, many thought this was a proxy retirement for Willian as he looked like he was well and truly past his best at Arsenal.

However, after arriving at Craven Cottage, Willian has proven all of his doubters wrong.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Willian has now opened up on his departure from Arsenal and he admitted that things didn’t go to plan in north London.

Willian says that he left a lot of money on the table when he left Arsenal, and many around him suggested that he was crazy to leave such a massive amount of cash behind.

Willian was called crazy for leaving Arsenal

The winger spoke about his departure from the Emirates.

“When I left Arsenal everyone knows it was not good. It was a difficult year for me,” Willian said.

“I decided to leave and, at that time, I still had two more years contract and I just said to them ‘listen, let’s break the contract. It has not worked the way we wanted. I will go somewhere else and I will continue to play football’. I turned the situation around and, now, three years later I am at this club, enjoying myself. It’s an amazing club, to be honest.”

“People were saying to me ‘you are crazy, you cannot give up this kind of money’. They were saying ‘any other player in your position would never do that. They would sit on the contract and collect the money’. Stuff like that.

“But I don’t think about money. I know money is important, for sure. But it’s not the first thing in my life. For me, God first. Then my family, then football. Then the other things. But I wasn’t happy so that’s why I decided to leave.”

Money isn’t everything

Money is obviously a massive thing in football, but you can’t put a price on happiness.

Willian wasn’t enjoying his football at Arsenal, but now, he looks rejuvenated at Fulham.

If Willian had stayed at Arsenal and collected his cash, he’d probably have spent the last two years rotting on the bench or in the reserves and would perhaps be retired by now, but instead, he’s thriving at Premier League level once again, and he genuinely looks as though he still has plenty left in the tank.

Financially, leaving Arsenal was a strange decision, but for his own happiness, Willian made the right call here.