Arsenal have seen a host of talent grace the field of both the Emirates and Highbury over the years in north London, with some of the biggest names of the Premier League era making memories with the Gunners.
From Arsene Wenger’s undefeated class of 2003/04 to the rising stars under Mikel Arteta today, a level of world-class quality has been maintained throughout the various squads that have worn the cannon, with some vastly better than others.
It’s not always been easy for the Gunners in the Premier League, with the past few years highlighting the need for change and culture at the club, with faith restored by Arteta’s love and attention to detail in restoring Arsenal as title challengers.
It took the Spaniard two consecutive 8th-place finishes and a 5th-place ranking in 2021/22 to work out how to operate his squad to best effect, with one common theme being the extinguishing of big egos from the dressing room.
Arsenal’s struggling squad of 2020/21 that claimed 8th place contained star names such as David Luiz, Willian, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe, with all of the listed names ranking within the top 10 highest-earners on the club’s payroll that term.
While their names carried significant weight in the footballing world, they carried a minimal amount at the Emirates that season, and as a result of offloading high-earning personalities of yesterday, Arteta has eliminated any sense of hierarchy.
One player that had a particularly terrible time in north London was Willian, who was only at the club for that one highly disappointing season.
How much has Willian earned in his career so far?
Adding a two-time Premier League winner to your ranks could rarely be a thing to be shunned, especially a figure that had played the best football of his career at your London rivals.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, they weren’t receiving Sol Campbell 2.0 in Willian, but instead a far duller version of the Brazilian maestro that took Stamford Bridge by storm over his seven-year association with Chelsea.
The 70-capped Brazil international began his career in his homeland with Corinthians, before making the move to Ukraine to represent Shakhtar Donetsk for five-and-a-half years.
After scoring 37 goals and recording 63 assists in 221 appearances for the Ukrainian outfit, the forward took on a new challenge with Russian club Anzhi, before being snatched up by the Blues six months later in the summer of 2013.
Signing for Chelsea in a deal worth £90k-per-week, amounting to £4.6m-per-year, the winger quickly became accustomed to life in England, becoming a first team favourite and growing into his game year-by-year as highlighted by his scoring tally.
From making seven goal contributions in his debut Premier League campaign in the 2013/14 season, to ending his stay in the blue side of west London with 16 league goal contributions in 2019/20, the forward captured the hearts of Chelsea.
In 2016, Willian signed an improved four-year deal with the club, taking his earnings up to £120k-per-week and £6.2m-per-year, before he reached a career-high of £138k-per-week in 2019 with another renewal.
His fees were matched by Arsenal at the point of his Chelsea departure, before his earnings took a decline as he ventured back to Corinthians and then onto Fulham, where he currently resides on £50k-per-week.
Over the span of his career to date, Capology references the Brazilian’s total career earnings at over £54m, telling of the magnitude of his influence in England and beyond.
How much did Arsenal spend on Willian?
What wasn’t quite as telling was Willian’s impact in north London, where he was highly ineffective for the short time that he was part of Arteta’s squad at the Emirates.
Signed on a free transfer from Chelsea in the summer of 2020, the then 32-year-old penned a three-year deal with the Gunners, earning £138k-per-week.
Leave a Reply