ARTETA: WILLIAN IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL

MIKEL ARTETA admits his own experience does not provide the finest example but expects Willian to make a long-term contribution at Arsenal. The three-year deal signed by the 32-year-old Brazilian is a culture shift at a club where the policy for many years under Arsene Wenger was to offer players over 30 deals of no more than 12 months. ‘Don’t compare him to me, I am a bad example,’ said Arteta, who retired at the age of 34 and barely played in the Premier League during the final 18 months of his career. ‘He is much better than me and he is much fitter than me. He has experience in this league and he is always available. He is a player who does not miss football matches. ‘In all the conversations I had with him, the things that stood out were his ambition and his willingness to be the man who can drive this club forward and be a big part of it.’ Willian started 38 games for Chelsea last season and came on nine times as a substitute. Arsenal were criticised for snapping him up on a free and giving him a three-year contract worth £220,000 a week soon after announcing 55 redundancies. ‘We need a balance in this squad,’ said Arteta. ‘We have some really young talent and they need experienced players who they can just put their shirts on and start performing.’ Arteta’s main injury problems are in central defence for today’s fixture at Fulham, with David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi, Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers and Sokratis ruled out.