Mikel Arteta has no regrets over lofty claims made to lure Willian to the club

Many Arsenal fans would have been hoping for a lot more from Willian when he made the short trip from west London to the north of the capital, however his performances have been just disappointing – if not woeful – as Arsenal’s entire season has been.

The Brazilian, who is expected to depart the Emirates Stadium this summer with rumoured interest from Inter Miami being prevalent at the moment, has only just been able to score his first goal for the Gunners, thus highlighting how poor of a time it has been.

The South American managed to hit a free-kick that many would have seen him do regularly for Chelsea into the corner of the net against West Bromwich Albion last month in the final moments of the game to help secure a 3-1 victory, and with the season finale against Brighton and Hove Albion to come on Sunday, it is unlikely more of Willian will be seen.

However, Mikel Arteta has insisted that he has no regrets about luring the experienced attacker to the Emirates Stadium last summer, despite having had some incredibly ambitious plans to qualify and win the UEFA Champions League in the three years the veteran’s contract stated he would be with them. If they had managed to do that and users were able to get good odds using allvideoslots CN to bet on it, then they would be some wealthy individuals!

The 32-year-old had revealed those ambitious plans had been what lured him to the club, but that simply has not happened and Arsenal have never looked anywhere near likely to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, despite having reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League.

Speaking about what he said, Arteta continued to state that the ambition had to be had at a club of Arsenal’s stature and continues to stand by them.

“It cannot be any other ambition at this football club, it cannot be,” he said, as quoted by The Independent. “If you don’t have that we won’t reach it.

“There’s only one winner in the Champions League and there is only one winner in the Premier League, the rest of the teams have failed. For any of the other teams finishing second or third is not a big achievement.”

Arteta did also go on to mention that qualifying for the UEFA Champions League with a top-four finish is more difficult than ever, as teams are able to acquire more points than they had in the past.

“Now the perception is different, now it’s an achievement to be third or fourth in this league,” the Arsenal boss said.

“Would the fans agree with that? Probably not, but the people internally that are working every day and know the standards that have been set is so different.

“Last year with 62 points, you are fifth in the league and almost in the Champions League. This season you won’t be there and next season you won’t be there because the level is increasing all the time.”