Arsenal defender Leah Williamson has signed a new contract with the club. The 24-year-old signed a one-year extension to her deal last May after seeking assurances about the club’s level of ambition, this deal is for longer though the club, as always, won’t specify the exact length of the deal.
The Gunners have since added stats like Nikita Parris, Tobin Heath, Frida Maanum and are about to add Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius as well as an international centre-half during the January transfer window.
Williamson, a lifelong Arsenal fan, joined the club at the age of nine and made her first team debut at the age of 16. Williamson has been out since the end of November with a hamstring injury which has coincided with a downturn in form for the team. Leah is expected to return to the field in the next few weeks.
“It’s a dream come true,” Leah told Arsenal.com. “It was a dream come true the first time that I signed here and the feeling hasn’t changed. I’m as grateful as ever to have the opportunity to do what I do here – at home – and I’m very proud to continue to represent my family playing for Arsenal and to wear the badge.”
“It’s wonderful news that Leah has signed a new deal,” said head coach Jonas Eidevall. “As well as being a key player for us right now, she is also an integral part of our plans for the future – a player for us to build Arsenal around and show the young women in our academy what can be achieved through hard work, dedication and passion. I know Leah has a special bond with the fans too – it’s so important for the supporters to identify with the players and they certainly have that in Leah.”
“This is a hugely important day for Arsenal Women,” said head of women’s football Clare Wheatley. “Leah is a crucial member of our squad and we are all delighted that she will be staying with us moving forward. This is an ambitious club and Leah has always been a vital part of our plans – I’m sure all the fans will be thrilled with the news that she has signed a new contract.”
Do we know how long this one is for or we’ll be back here next season? Great news nonetheless. She’s been hugely missed since the injury
One-year extension is what Tim wrote, so I guess we will be back here next year. I don’t think it’s unfair of her. As much as she loves Arsenal, we are not the top of Europe. So it’s unfair to think we can keep her forever and not let her have a spell outside North London for a bit.
Tim said it was a one year extension last season not the new deal. The length of this season’s deal has not been given. I would suspect it is 2 or 3 seasons but hope it is 5!
It’s longer than a year, idk exactly how long it is but it’s definitely longer than a year. I wrote that her last extension was a year.
In her interview on the club website she says she wants to create a lasting legacy so she needs to stick with us for a few years yet to achieve that!
Ah my bad. Read it as she signed a one year extension this time. And then completely missed the next part.
It’s brilliant news. Please let us know when you find out.
Leah could not go anywhere else, could she?
Top news after the disappointment of the previous few matches.
We have established that we have ambition now we need to start delivering on the pitch!
I think in her heart she’d want to stay here forever. But we can’t let her feel like she owes us anything just because she’s ‘Arsenal through and through’. I don’t blame her if she’d ever go and have a spell somewhere else simply because an offer comes along from a better club. Because there are better clubs.
Awesome news 🙂
Great news!
Definitely great news! She has grown so much in the past years. She was a youngster breaking through just a few years ago it seems. Right now I don’t see anybody else taking the captain’s band once Kim decides it’s her time to go. We’ve all seen what a team without Leah is like the past few weeks. (I know it’s not just her, but a part of it definitely) I hope we can show her year in year out why she’s such a fan and why we value her so much. Give her everything she wants. Develop, set goals… Read more »
How long is her contract?
Get in!
It’s a one-year extension as specified in the first paragraph of the article.
Nah that was the deal she signed last May that was one year.
I read that as “last May she signed a one year extension”, implying that this new deal is longer than that.
It doesn’t say that read it again! She signed a one year deal last year. We don’t know how long this one is.
My humble apologies – I just re-read & realise it’s in fact a longer deal.
Fab news though, I feel both glad & relieved that Leah has committed!
Amazing news!
It’s really reassuring that the deal seem to be for longer than last years 1 year deal. I assume that Leah’s been happy with the changes that’s happened since then, and that will happen in the future.
Another thought, you sound very sure of this?
So is this just a “when” not an “if” at this point? 👀
I read today that Blackstenius is a done deal.
Woohoo. Could do with some positive news. Next captain?
You have to feel for Jordan if that is the case to be usurped at club and country when you have been vice-captain of both!
I don’t think, however, that anyone would begrudge Leah the armband at Arsenal or the national team.
I especially doubt that Jordan would begrudge Leah anything given their relationship
I’m sure they wouldn’t. Her leadership qualities really are very impressive given how young she still is and I think the team are really missing them at the moment, as good a captain as Kim is.
Kim is as perfect a Captain as we could wish for, and Leah is the only player with the calm, class, ability & the confidence to (eventually) succeed her as Club Leader.
I still remember Kim being the key player for Team GB in Tokyo, and if Leah had started every game, based on her exceptional play & level of motivation there, GB could & should in my opinion, have won Gold.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder! In this case from already fond to even more fond….
I guess before Leah’s injury I would have said Viv was the #1 must resign asap priority for arsenal’s succes, but since Leah’s absence it’s clear that Leah is much more integral to the team as a whole. And Tim’s point that there are other players we could sign that could do things Viv do whereas Leah’s specific profile is more unique is well taken.
As great as Viv is we could get other players to score goals. Leah has a talent of being a ball playing centre back whilst comfortably stepping into mid-field. There’s not too many around like that.
I completely disagree. Viv is arguably the best finisher in women’s football and has been for years. She’s two-footed, with very good ball skills, which is a big reason that she’s so clinical. She’s also very good with her head and an excellent passer. A lot of forwards are not two-footed, not as good in the box, so, let’s be real, there are not a lot of players who can do the things Miedema can do. Indeed, it would be a lot easier to sign another good centerback than it would be do find someone with talent roughly equal to… Read more »
How come Arsenal’s Australian internationals remained on holidays for Birmingham game whilst Man City’s 2 Australians both played their game before reporting for international duty?
If you take the trouble to read Tim’s preview of the Birmingham game he explains that the Aussie National Team requested our players to be at their official training camp in Dubai and we were obliged to release them.
Presumably, it was felt that the Man City players were not required so urgently, who knows?
This makes no sense. Why would Australia request Arsenals players but not Man City’s players? Could it be that Arsenals Australian reps wanted to go home for a holiday rather than fulfill their club duties? It left the team short and the bench for that game suffered as a result. If Arsenal had gotten to the Chelsea game without defeat they could lose that game and still wrap up the league. Now they are in a bad spot.
You would need to ask the Australian management but we were asked to release the players for the training camp and because FIFA says so we could not stop them going. I don’t think it is a case of the girls wanting a “holiday” because they were not going back to Australia. They went to Dubai for training.
Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord both travelled to Australia. Lia Walti travelled to Australia with Caitlin but I’m pretty sure she returned for the game. Just seems a mistake to not have the Australian players back in time or ensure new signings are in the squad for that game. Manager was left with a thin squad and no real way of changing game with the bench options he was able to pick. I understand the Australian players have been away from home for a long time but we are in a season where we are trying to win a title… Read more »
Agree that it makes no sense at all to ask one club to release their players for national team training/duty but not another club–and if I’m Arsenal I’m raising hell about this with the Australian management. It’s dumb and it hurt Arsenal.
Why wouldn’t Arsenal announce the length of the deal? When Chelsea re-signed Sam Kerr the announcement included that she had re-signed until 2024. Why not include that info?
Because Arsenal never do!
We have to rely on Tim to weasel it out of them!
Great news, Leah is Arsenal through and through and a world-class defender!