Arsenal Women have confirmed the signing of Swedish centre-half Amanda Ilestedt, confirming our story from June 22nd on her imminent arrival. The 30-year-old announced her departure from Paris Saint Germain last week at the expiry of her contract.
Prior to that, Ilestedt spent two years at Bayern Munich and played for Jonas Eidevall at Rosengard. With Rafaelle’s departure this summer, a centre-half was an urgent requirement. Ilestedt can also play at right-back, with Laura Wienroither likely to miss most of next season with an ACL injury. Ilestedt is part of Sweden’s World Cup squad.
Après 2️⃣ saisons en Rouge et Bleu, 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐈𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐭 quittera le Paris Saint-Germain à l’issue de cet exercice.
Le Club salue Amanda et lui adresse tous ses vœux de bonheur et de réussite pour la suite de sa carrière. ❤️💙
✨ #MerciAmanda pic.twitter.com/WrsQb4IMAI
— PSG Féminines (@PSG_Feminines) June 16, 2023
“I’m really excited and happy to be here,” said Ilestedt. “My goal is to win titles and this is a great club with great players and fantastic facilities, so I believe this is the right place for me to achieve that. There is a real sense of momentum around this club and the support has been wonderful – I can’t wait to walk out onto the pitch in the Arsenal kit.”
Head Coach Jonas Eidevall said: “I’m delighted that Amanda has joined us here at Arsenal. She brings extensive international experience and I believe she has a great mix of presence and technical ability, making her an ideal fit for our squad. I enjoyed working with Amanda during our time in Sweden and am looking forward to coaching her here at Arsenal too.”
Head of Women’s Football Clare Wheatley said: “Amanda is an experienced international defender in her peak years, so we are very pleased to have brought her to Arsenal. She has a proven track record in domestic, European and international football and we believe she will strengthen our squad in a key area as we look ahead to the new season.”
Ilestedt is Arsenal’s first confirmed signing of the summer, with Canadian forward Cloé Lacasse set to follow and Manchester United striker Alessia Russo likely to formalise her arrival in early July.
We will have a profile of Amanda Ilestedt on the site later today from Swedish journalist and analyst Mia Eriksson. Fellow Swedish journalist Amanda Zaza confirms Ilestedt joins on a two-year contract.
Nice one Gooners👍
I sort of met Amanda Ilestedt at a schoolgirls training day in Gothenburg last summer, that’s one heck of an attractive lady. And now in red and white she’s off the scale!
On seeing your comment my first reaction was ‘dont be such a misogynist’. But then i have zero qualms over people commenting on the handsomeness of Benjamin White, or indeed to handsomeness deficit were experiencing after Mari left…
In any case I hope she is judged on merit as a player first and foremost. After that I’m happy to agree that she is also rather bonnie.
Swedish reporter Amanda Zaza confirms Ilestedt has signed a 2 year deal with Arsenal.
https://twitter.com/amandaezaza/status/1673619795076431872
Wonderful news ❤❤
Great news! Ilestedt is a world class player.
Welcome to the Arsenal, Amanda Ilestedt. You are joining one of the best clubs in the world and we are very excited about seeing your contribution from next season. All the best of luck at the World Cup (and please don’t get injured)
Hoping for a long and successful career at Arsenal.
Well done to the recruitment team, too.
Not so sure about this one…
Not necessarily because of her footballing skills but availability wise. Heard she is quite injury prone. That was something we struggled with last season… wouldn’t want to see a repeat of that next season, you know.
But that’s now rather academic as she’s already here. So welcome to the Arsenal, I guess
Rafa was injured quite a lot while she was with us, still contributed very siginificantly. And we have LWM and hopefully another CB in the works.
Any news on Russo?
It’s literally in the article
You can lead a horse to water!!!