Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has reportedly managed to lure Willian to Arsenal with a long-term contract and the promise of a change of position.
The Chelsea star waved goodbye to Stamford Bridge this week after seven years with the club with an emotional statement.
The 32-year-old was chasing a new three-year contract at the Bridge, but Chelsea would not shift on a two-year deal and the winger decided to move on.
The Brazilian is widely expected to pen a deal between £100,000 and £150,000-a-week to join Arsenal, signing a three-year contract.
And Arteta, according to the Daily Mirror, plans on using Willian in a central role.
It’s not a new position for the player, who played centrally when he arrived at Shakhtar Donetsk from Corinthians in Brazil.
That was more than a decade ago, but after five different managers at Chelsea, he looks set to resume his No.10 position.
The paper claims Willian has been “somewhat mislabelled in recent years” by Frank Lampard and Co.
Lampard was a big admirer of Willian and he featured 47 times this season, but the vast majority of those were out wide.
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However, Willian’s impending move to Arsenal will see him used by Arteta in behind the main striker – a position Willian favours, according to The Metro.
“Rather than a wide forward they see him as a midfielder, a creator, while it remains his preference to play in a central role, filling the half-spaces and positions behind opposing midfielders, rather than out wide,” reads the Mirror.
He was reportedly in north London on Monday to complete his medical with the Gunners.