According to the Daily Mail, Willian reflected on his time at Arsenal during "The Obi One Podcast," stating that leaving Chelsea to join Arsenal was a huge mistake.

The now 36-year-old Brazilian attacker joined the Gunners in August 2020. Having spent seven successful years at Chelsea prior to that, the signing was considered a significant acquisition for Arteta at the time.

However, just one year later, Willian mutually terminated his contract and left the team after failing to replicate his Stamford Bridge form. He scored only 1 goal in 37 appearances.

Willian had previously described his Arsenal career as "the worst time I've ever experienced as a professional," and he elaborated further during "The Obi One Podcast" with former Chelsea teammate John Obi Mikel.

Recalling the experience, he said: "I knew it was a big mistake." He explained that Chelsea was only willing to offer him a two-year contract extension, while Arsenal was prepared to give him a three-year deal.

"I met them a few times," he said. "I met Arteta, and I met everyone there. They said, 'We want you to be the main guy.'"

"Arteta told me: 'This is how we're going to play, and I want you to be the main guy. I'm going to build the team around you, and I want to give you the keys to the club.'"

"After hearing that, of course, I loved Chelsea, but at that time, I only had one year left on my contract, and I was 32. I thought, staying in London for three more years, with my family also loving London. So I made the decision."

"To be honest, I should have stayed, but at that moment, I thought maybe the best thing was to go there. I signed for three years, but it didn't work out."

Willian then revealed that things did not unfold as he expected or was promised, and by November, he had told his agent he wanted to leave the club.

"I was frustrated," he added. "I'm not saying it was their fault, but when you hear so many things, and then you actually join and find out it's not what they said, I was immediately disappointed."

"Three months later, I told my agent I wanted to leave, and I felt it was a big mistake to leave Chelsea."

When asked which promises were not kept, Willian replied: "It was more about the things I heard. I felt frustrated because I saw some situations while I was there, and I told myself, this won't change."

"But it didn't work out, and because of that, I couldn't play well or perform, because I wasn't happy. You can't perform if you're not happy. Money can't buy happiness. That was the best contract I ever had in my career, but I wasn't happy."

In that disappointing season for both him and the team, Arsenal finished eighth, and Willian subsequently told the club he wanted to leave, joining his childhood club Corinthians.

Willian's stint at the Emirates occurred during a time when Arsenal was far from its current status as a Premier League title contender, but the Brazilian still criticized what he observed after joining.

"The mentality there was completely different from Chelsea," he added. "There's no comparison at all. That was one of the reasons I felt frustrated, because the club's mentality was different."

"When I left Chelsea, they were competing for the title every season, but Arsenal at the time was in a situation where many people were leaving and many people were joining. It was very difficult. I saw from the beginning that the mentality was already different."

The Brazilian player also noted that the standards in North London were not what he was used to. He mentioned that no one was pushing the young players, which he found very difficult.

Despite his later successes, Willian also offered an intriguing assessment of Arteta's coaching after discussing his difficult relationship with the manager.

He said: "I have nothing against him. He's an excellent coach on the field with good ideas, but he lacked some details in managing the team."

"What he lacked was the human touch. That's important, but on the field, he was really good. I always joke that they sold me a dream, but it wasn't a good dream."

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