Former Arsenal man and current Fulham winger, Willian, admitted he wishes he never left Chelsea for Arsenal.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 15: Willian of Fulham battles for possession with Dan Burn of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Fulham FC at St. James Park on January 15, 2023 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND: Willian of Fulham battles for possession with Dan Burn of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Fulham FC at St. James Park on January 15, 2023. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

After running down his contract with Chelsea, Willian decided to move across London and sign for Arsenal in the summer of 2020.

The winger made a strong debut for the Gunners against Fulham, setting up a few goals, but things went downhill from there, and he only scored one goal in his 37 appearances that season.

The only positive of Willian’s spell at Arsenal was that everyone quickly agreed it wasn’t working out and cancelled his contract without dragging things out.

But despite now playing for Chelsea’s local rivals, Fulham, Willian says he wishes he never left Stamford Bridge.

“Yeah,” Willian said last season. “I wish I’d never left. Of course, it’s easy to say now, but when I stop to think about all the situations, yeah, I say to myself ‘I wish I’d never left’.

“But it’s life, I’m happy now. I’m at Fulham, enjoying myself there.”

Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion - Premier League - Emirates Stadium Arsenal s Willian celebrates scoring their side s third goal of the game during the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday May 9, 2021. Copyright: Richard Heathcote
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion – Premier League – Emirates Stadium Arsenal’s Willian celebrates scoring their side’s third goal of the game during the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday, May 9, 2021. Copyright: Richard Heathcote

As for why things didn’t work out for him at Arsenal, Willian couldn’t put his finger on the reason.

“[Arsenal] are flying now,” Willian admitted. “I don’t know (why it didn’t work), they were in the middle of changing a lot. I was excited when I signed with them, and I was training hard, but it just doesn’t work and that’s it.”

The 34-year-old certainly seems to have his career back on track now with Fulham, Arsenal fans will hope he doesn’t pick Sunday to finally score his first goal against the Gunners.

Willian has faced Arsenal more times than any other side and has yet to find the back of the net against them.

At the time of writing, a few hours before kick-off, Willian is a doubt for the game with a hamstring problem.

This season, Willian has four goals and one assists in 17 games.