Arsenal Announce Signing Of Ex-Manchester United International

Arsenal have finally made it official and announced the signing of England international and global superstar Alessia Russo.

The Gunners lodged a world record bid in Women’s football for Russo back in January, however, Manchester United were very against the idea of selling their goal machine midway through a season in which they were pushing for the Women’s Super League title and a spot in the Champions league.

Russo ended up staying at Man United for the remainder of the season and helped fire the Red Devils into the Champions League for the very first time in their history, but she won’t be part of the team that plays European football at Leigh Village.

Arsenal confirm the signing of Alessia Russo

That’s because Man United delayed so long and wasted so much time in offering Russo a fair enough and financially viable contract that she decided to cut ties with the club she grew up supporting and helped progress in the WSL.

It was all pretty common knowledge that once Russo’s contract expired that Arsnal would be going in for the England international but it appears to have been a quite long and drawn-out process, likely due to Russo’s involvement in England’s World Cup preparations.

Welcome to the Arsenal family.

Alessia Russo is our new No.23 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/EHItELutGZ

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) July 4, 2023

Sarina Wiegman wanted all of the players to get their futures sorted before jetting off to Australia and Russo has done that alongside Hannah Hampton who also joined Chelsea from Aston Villa today as a free agent.

Russo has risen to fame over the last 12 months having scored a stunning and iconic backheel goal for the Lionesses during their run to winning the European Championship last summer and her form with Man United domestically has helped her become one of the most coveted strikers in Women’s football.

Russo makes Arsenal a genuine title contender once again

It will be interesting to see how Jonas Eidvall utilises Russo as he already has Vivianne Miedema, Stina Blackstenius and new signing Cloe Lacasse who can all lead the line and operate efficiently in the final third, so one of the former two could be set for a summer move away from the Gunners.

Arsenal are certainly not hanging about this summer as they look to add both depth and quality to their squad which was decimated by injuries last season and help them try and mount a serious challenge for the WSL next season alongside back-to-back winners Chelsea.

If you are enjoying our Women’s football coverage then stay tuned as I will be bringing you exclusive content from the World Cup out in Australia later this summer!