Brazilian attacker Willian is set to become Arsenal’s first signing of the summer following his departure from Chelsea this week. The winger, who spent seven years in West London, said his goodbyes in an emotional social media post on Sunday.
Willian was perhaps the most influential Chelsea player at the beginning of the top flight’s restart and looked like he was playing for a new deal. Chelsea, though, were only willing to offer him a two-year contract, a year less than he was willing to sign on for – Arsenal, on the other hand, are believed to be eager to hand him a three-year term at the Emirates.
According to Standard Sport, the 32-year-old underwent a medical at Arsenal on Monday and is expected to sign with the North-Londoners at some point this week.
He now appears set to join compatriot and former Chelsea teammate David Luiz at Arsenal. The club, likely buoyed by their FA Cup win earlier this month, went into the final at 13/5 to lift the trophy, with the Blues the 21/20 favourites. A spirited performance saw them oust their London counterparts. They’re Betway’s third favourite to win the competition again next season at 7/1, with Manchester City currently the outright tip at 9/2 and Liverpool in behind at 6/1.
New boss Mikel Arteta must have been pleased to win his first piece of silverware as a manager with the Gunners, having previously won two such cups as a player with the Emirates outfit. However, there is a need for improvement given their eighth-placed finish in the Premier League.
As things stand, the Gunners are 3/1 to finish in the top four next season with Bet365 but the challenge will be quite hefty. The Likes of Man City and Liverpool are obvious shoo-ins and are 1/16 and 1/12 respectively with the aforementioned bookmaker. Chelsea, meanwhile are 8/13 to repeat their capture of a Champions League place while Manchester United are 4/11. Tottenham Hotspur, like Arsenal, are 3/1.
The Premier League title is considered to be quite the reach for Arsenal but perhaps the signing of Willian could leave them in a much better position. They’re currently 50/1 to lift the coveted trophy with Paddy Power; Man City are favoured to wrestle it back from holders Liverpool at 1/1 with Bet365, while the Reds are 7/4. Fans keen on top-flight betting tips should definitely check out Freebets.com, where they could find all of their punting needs, including free bets, spins and promotions. Also, access to football games should be a bit easier now that the BT Sport app is now available on streaming devices, which should make for better viewing during the 2020/21 season.
Where London is concerned, Arsenal are the third favourites to finish next season as the capital’s best team at 10/3 with William Hill. Chelsea remain atop that group at 8/13 while Spurs are second at 11/4.
Coverage of the Champions and Europa leagues continues on BT Sport which, in addition to live matches, is offering fans a new magazine show, Club 2020 Daily with James Richardson, recapping the previous night’s action and looking ahead to the day’s matches.
The channel has recently launched a monthly pass allowing fans without BT TV or broadband to subscribe without any longterm commitment and has also announced that both contests’ finals will be shown free on YouTube, allowing everyone to enjoy the action.