Arsenal have officially signed 32-year-old winger Willian on a free transfer from fellow London rivals Chelsea FC.
The Gunners released an official statement on Friday: “Brazil international Willian has signed a three-year deal to join us ahead of the 2020/21 season.
“Willian will wear the number 12 shirt. The deal is subject to the completion of regulatory processes.”
While most of the news surrounding this signing has been positive but there have been some people who think that Mikel Arteta should not have brought in Willian, especially when they already have a player like Nicholas Pepe.
But while presenting his views on the latest arrival, former Arsenal star Perry Groves claimed that the signing of the ex-Chelsea winger was a no-brainer.
“It’s a very, very good signing,” said Groves, as reported by talkSPORT.
“He’s a proven Premier League player and he’s better than what we’ve got.
“I’ve got stick from people for saying that ‘is he better than Pepe?’ But at the moment, he is better than Pepe. He’s more consistent and he’s proven it at that level, whereas Pepe hasn’t. Pepe has got potential, which is completely different.
“It’s a no-brainer. It’s a complete no-brainer. He’s a really good signing for the Gooners.”
Can Willian uplift Arsenal next season?
Willian was an important player in Frank Lampard’s squad last season and the Blues manager even tried to pin him down by presenting him with a new contract a couple of months ago.
But the approach was too little too late as the Brazilian had already made up his mind to move out of Stamford Bridge.
This past season, Wilian scored 11 goals across all competitions which is not at all a bad figure for someone who was about to be a free agent pretty soon.
The talent is obviously there in the player but as Perry said, his experience will be the most crucial thing that Mikel Arteta will look to use next season as Arsenal try to get back into the top four of the Premier League.
