Arsenal Women have signed Austrian international Laura Wienroither from Hoffenheim. The 23-year-old defender has 12 caps for her country and is an international teammate of Viki Schnaderbeck and Manu Zinsberger.
Arsenal played Hoffenheim in the recent Champions League group stages. Wienroither has played for Hoffenheim for the last three seasons. She will wear the number 26 shirt.
“It’s an incredible feeling for me.” Laura told Arsenal Media. “I’m really happy to be here and to have the opportunity and I’m looking forward to being with the team. When I first heard about Arsenal’s interest I couldn’t believe it, and I still can’t believe it!”
“It’s excellent news that we have signed Laura,” said head coach Jonas Eidevall. “We’ve been very impressed by her defensive performances this season both at club and international level and we believe that she can make a big contribution here at Arsenal.”
“We’re delighted to welcome Laura to the club,” said head of women’s football Clare Wheatley. “She is a player that we have been tracking for some time and it’s fantastic that she is now here with us. Despite being only 23, Laura already has significant experience in both the Frauen-Bundesliga and at international level, so we have no doubt that she will make an important contribution to the team.”
Arsenal have already added Swedish striker Laura Blackstenius and are expected to add Brazilian defender Rafaelle Souza too. I am also told there is a possibility of a further addition from Germany in this window, we don’t know who yet but we will try to find out!
Great signings!!
Interesting! Got to give props to this club for beefing up the women’s squad like that this season. I wish that alleged German addition will be Jule Brand! How exciting would that be?
Hope these players can help the team push for silverware now and in the future! COYG
Very, very exciting! We can hope…
Not much knowledge about Jule Brand, is she very good?
Future of German football. She featured — brightly, I should add — against us in the UWCL group stages. Still very young but already really experienced is she.
Look on YouTube for highlights of her international debut where Germany beat Australia 5-2.
Jule Brand has been so good in UWCL.
Or maybe we could get Sofia Jakobsson! She knows how to link up with Blackstenius and she just left Bayern….
Wow! Had no clue she left Bayern! Let’s see who this mystery signing is gonna be!
It’s definitely not Sofia Jakobsson. She’s joining San Diego wave in the NWSL.
I like Brand a lot, but would prefer Lena Oberdof.
Me as well. Oberdorf is special ….
All the best to her in her Arsenal career
Another strong signing, excellent news! 🙂
Thanks for the announcement Stillberto. What kind of defender would you say she is?
She plays right back. What does that tell you about Maritz?
I can’t see Laura as a back up.
Thanks Lamzo
Is she a CB or a fullback?
Both and a DM, but mainly a FB I think.
Does this mean that the signing of Rafaelle was just a rumour?
Nope. That is happening.
If we need to sign a left back in the future, we may also look at her former Hoffenheim teammate and fellow Austrian Katharina Naschenweng.
23 year old Rb/Cb option, so copy of Anna basically. But the difference is that she has played 2000 minutes for club and country both this and previous season and Anna has had about 300 minutes in both. I assume we signed Laura mainly to be back up to Noelle. Can’t say that I have seen her play more than those 2 games against us and in those she wasn’t the one who actually stood out. I like our aggressiveness in this transfer window. Anna isn’t playing as much and isn’t ready to play more – loaned out at the… Read more »
Good point re the club’s aggressiveness in the transfer window. Obviously there are no guarantees, but you certainly can’t accuse the club of not being proactive and they seem to be giving the team the best chance of success.
So I read ‘cup-tied’ do not exist anymore.
Does this mean all January signings are eligible to play with their new team for QFs, SFs and final of UWCL? Or is this cup-tied no more by UEFA only applicable for the men’s Champions League and Europa League?
You can register a maximum of three new players to the Women Champions League Playoffs.