Arsenal risk being left behind in WSL as transfer failings widen gap to Chelsea | Suzanne Wrack The north London club’s reluctance to spend big on players will stifle their chance to build on their ever-distant legacy.
In addition, in an interview with Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the former manager Jonas Eidevall revealed they had to choose between offering WSL record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema a new contract or bringing in the Barcelona forward Mariona Caldentey last year, with the decision to let a club legend go rupturing his relationship with fans.
Chelsea paid £440,000 for Walsh, a player Arsenal are understood to have submitted a world record bid for in September, reportedly for more than double this month’s fee.
The reported annual wage of the men’s captain and highest paid player, Martin Ødegaard, could pay the salaries of the entire Arsenal women setup (staff and players) twice over.
It may seem odd to label a transfer window which included the recruitment of an Olympic gold medallist and the loan signing of the player that scored the winning goal in the 2022 Euros a failure, but that is the nature of the world that Arsenal are now operating in.
