‘I wasn’t having it’: Sky pundit expresses Willian surprise, two years after Arsenal exit

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Tim Howard says Willian is now a ‘big time’ player at Marco Silva’s Fulham after his ‘poor’ season under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.

For the 2020/21 Premier League campaign, Willian was the newest member of Arsenal’s squad, who at the time, were in their first full season under Mikel Arteta.

But it went horribly wrong for all, including the team missing out on Europe and the former Chelsea star, who had joined on a free transfer from Stamford Bridge, heading for the exit door just before he entered it.

Former Premier League goalkeeper Tim Howard stated that he ‘wasn’t having it’ and ‘we didn’t see the best’ of Willian at the Emirates, but now you have to give him ‘credit’ for turning that sinking ship around at Craven Cottage, as he told Sky Sports PL’s Summer Series.

In 27 Premier League games for Fulham last season, he managed to score five goals and supply six assists, he only managed one goal for the Gunners.

Many would have written off the £40k-a-week star (Spotrac), even after his abject spell in Brazil in between, but as former Everton and Manchester United man Howard mentioned, he has proven those critics wrong.

“I wasn’t having it, I thought he was poor at Arsenal,” said Howard. “We didn’t see the best of him. He went down to Brazil and had some issues.

“So, he is coming back to Fulham, it’s nice and it’s comfortable. He has a house in London. He has been brilliant. You have to credit the player and you have to credit Marco Silva for getting him on side and getting him to play week in and week out.

“He isn’t a luxury player He is a big-time player for Fulham.”

Willian joined Arsenal at the wrong time

It would have been interesting to see Willian join Arsenal this summer, or 12 months ago, just to see if his performances would have been better.

At the time, everything was going wrong for the club and Willian was just part of the mess.

Yes, it was the right call to part ways with him, after only 12 months, but Arsenal are now a far stable ship, with Arteta working with his own players, so perhaps Willian would have performed better, as a result.