ARSENAL are set to pay Willian £220,000-a-week, it's claimed.
The staggering sum puts the club at risk of a backlash having just made 55 staff redundant.
The former Chelsea player, who became a free agent at the end of the season, is on the verge of completing his move to Arsenal.
The Daily Mail report that the 32-year-old's huge weekly wage is made up of a signing on fee, loyalty payments and other bonuses.
It works out at around £11.4million a year, and a total of £34m over the course of the three year contract.
The report adds that there will be an option for a fourth year.
With a deal expected to go through this weekend, it'll come hot on the heels of the club announcing a flood or redundancies.
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The FA Cup winners have proposed cutting around 10 per cent of their work force amid the coronavirus downturn.
It's been alleged than many of the players who accepted a 12.5 per cent pay cut earlier this year are "fuming" with the decision.
They reportedly slashed their salaries on the basis that the money saved would avoid the need for any staff cuts.
News of Willian's huge contract will only rub salt into those wounds.
The Daily Mail even claims the delay to Willian's unveiling is due to the redundancies and a desire to avoid "poor optics" – although Arsenal deny this.
The club are also thought to be close to agreeing a new jaw-dropping contract with star striker Pierre Emerick-Aubamayang that will likely be in excess of £300,000-a-week.
Willian's agent Kia Joorabchian revealed yesterday that an announcement on his client's future is imminent.
He told talkSPORT: “He is a free player.
“He had a fantastic seven years at Chelsea, he’s been under various managers, he’s won multiple trophies and he has a fantastic relationship with Frank [Lampard], he respected him a lot.
“But I think that cycle had come to a moment where it’s a good moment to leave.
“At the moment, just for now I cant say where he’s going to go, for sure Arsenal are one of the contenders.
“But it wont be long before we announce it. We know where he’s going, so it wont be long.”
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