Arsenal Women manager Jonas Eidevall has signed a new contract with the club taking him to the summer of 2026. The Swede joined in club in the summer of 2021, initially on a one-year deal, before signing a two-year contract in April 2022.
Eidevall has now extended his contract. Both parties were negotiating over the summer and Arsenal have chosen to announce now, after a rough start to the season which has seen the team exit the Champions League in the preliminary rounds and the team slipped to a shock 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool on the opening game of the season.
“I’m full of pride to have signed a new contract with this football club,” said Eidevall. “I’m aware of the huge privilege and responsibility that comes along with my role at Arsenal. This is a special place with a special group of players and staff and we all believe there is a great future ahead of us here, so I am delighted to have agreed a new deal.”
“We’ve made great progress on and off the pitch over the last couple of years and we are all working hard to continue that growth every single day. Our ambition is to be competing for the highest honours in women’s football consistently and we all believe we are capable of achieving that.
“I’d also like to say a special thank you to our supporters. From the moment I arrived, I’ve felt your warm support and it means the world. Home or away, our supporters never fall short – to represent this club, this community, is an honour. Together, we can achieve so much.”
Sporting Director Edu said: “We’re delighted to have agreed a new contract with Jonas. This is an exciting time for our women’s first team as we approach a new season and this announcement is an important sign of our renewed commitment to the journey ahead. As a club, our aim is to be challenging at the top of the game and Jonas will play a key role in us achieving that.”
Head of Women’s Football Clare Wheatley said: “Jonas is a crucial part of what we are building here at Arsenal and we’re very pleased to say he has signed a new deal with us. He has overseen real progress since joining us in 2021, winning his first silverware and guiding us to the semi-finals of the Champions League last year. Jonas shares our ambitions for our club and we are looking forward to working towards them together over the coming years.”
Interesting timing. On the one hand it’s nice to see the backing from the club, on the other hand we’ve we’ve had some poor results recently.
Really? So he didn’t prove himself by winning a big trophy and we extend his contract… I would extend it if at the end of this season he would have won the WSL, not before…
Also he failed to qualify for the CL. I thought he was closer to being sacked, not rewarded with a new contract.
They rushed to sign a contract extension with Arteta when the team wasn’t performing well and it proved a great idea. Hope same happens with Eidevall.
Um… really? Well then good for him, what dirt has he found on the club because its frankly the wrong time for this announcement and a disastrous start to the season for his team. The worst in 9 years… and it’s got him more money?? So confused. 3 more years yet he’s won a single trophy and not the one anyone really wants. How does this look if we lose tomorrow? Is Jonas now untouchable no matter the results? What if we finish out of CL position this season? I’m honestly shocked that it’s been made public with such a… Read more »
Good news…….one of the best coaches out there.
The way so many fans are complaining about this is ridiculous. It shows faith in the manager and in the project at a time when they need it, which can and will be immensely helpful for recruitment (if you were a player, would you sign on to work with a manager who had a high chance of leaving soon?). Yes, there are areas to work on. But nearly every time that’s happened for him, he’s found a way through and we’ve overcome it somehow. Plus, it’s not like he’s invincible or ‘results don’t matter’. The club can, and has in… Read more »
Agree 100% Adina – he has proved himself as a first class coach in so many areas – how quickly all the moaners have forgotten the 5-1 away win at Lyon, along with reaching the Semi Final of the CL only 6 months ago, achieved with a significantly depleted squad.
Totally agree. I do get sick of all the negative chatter. Arsenal don’t just get rid when things aren’t perfect (like most other clubs do) they persist and give the manager a real chance to prove he can do it.
Seems a bit premature considering how the season is starting.
First game of the season, right? I guess that most of us expected Liverpool to be ‘ripped apart’ but in extending his contract, the management has put loads of faith in him (the project he’s building aligns with the club’s vision for the team?). It’s our unwavering support for the team at this time that’s most essential. COYG!!
In practice this is 2 additional years since his contract didn’t come to an end until summer 2024 anyway. The club are signalling their faith in him very strongly by announcing it now. I hope they are right. I personally think it’s a little too soon. I agree with everything Claire Wheatley is quoted as saying about JE, but I think the *very* end of last season, plus the way we have started this one, all taken together, amounts to one strike against him. So I would have waited until January or the end of this season. It’s a move… Read more »
He should be sacked, not renewed. Don’t know why they are rewarding mediocrity
Good news. Certain amount of negativity on here and not sure why. He lead us to our first trophy in 4 years and the WCL semis last year with an increasingly depleted squad, while in the first year we were within a point of the title.
There have undoubtedly been times when he has got things wrong, but he’s also managed to correct and learn from them.
Apparently the Conti cup doesn’t count as a trophy and a track record of visibly problem solving, learning from one’s mistakes and overseeing a huge rise in the popularity and profile of the club means nothing because spending money on transfers = must win every game.
“overseeing a huge rise in the popularity and profile of the club” This has nothing to do with Jonas. This is due to a huge rise in the popularity and profile of women’s football generally, nothing to do with Jonas. The Conti cup is a trophy, but not as big as others. And only one minor trophy in 2 seasons is not good enough. The team has so much talent and should be competing to win the league. They barely snuck into champion’s league last year, then went out before the group stage this year You say our first trophy… Read more »
Spot on, strong points.
On the pitch we have declined in terms of challenging for the biggest trophies. In addition, in my view, the style of football is not easy on the eye. I just think the guy is a poor coach and like you believe he has had a very easy ride in terms of analysis and criticism considering he is in one of the biggest club positions in the women’s game.
You mean like Arteta was on Montemurro was for failing to qualify for the CL at the end of 2019-2020 season? Oh wait they weren’t! You conveniently forget last season was the first time in a WCL semi final for 10 years with a number of key players out. You also seem to forget that last season performances included the 5-1 drubbing of Lyon in Lyon, out playing Chelsea in 2 of the games we played last season including the Conti Cup. And on winning the Conti Cup we had to be vs the Sports Washers and Chelsea. All this… Read more »
Okay, there’s some bad maths all round here guys. The last two trophies were won in 18-19 and 22-23. So there was a three season gap in between. That means that last season he ended a 3 season trophy drought, during which time he was only in charge for one season. That’s one third, not half. And as noted, they lost the league by one point during that first season. Also, it’s worth noting that before that league won, they were 7 years without a trophy. Another thing you’re forgetting is that last season was the first time in a… Read more »
Nobody cares about the Conti Cup–it’s just another example of too many competitions. And, yea, he’s been able to acquire far more talent than the club as ever had–gotten far more support than Monte ever got–and won practically nothing. The CF situation is a freaking joke. He does talk a big game.
Agree totally. Very adept at supposed reasonable excuses after crap performances. Has had such an easy ride as coach it’s like he is under no pressure whatsoever despite having had by far the most backing of any coach proceeding him.
“not sure why“
Probably because we’re already in a position where we’re out of the Champions League before it even started and if we lose the next game the league season is already over at two games in. I wish that were an exaggeration but Chelsea dropped 8 points all of last season and we’d already have dropped 6.
United is a must win… but so is Villa, and so is… ad infinitum. Such is the world Arsenal Women live in these days
I’m not against the contract extension, but I am surprised by it.
oh good. 3 more years of failure.
Lol. You are right. Tongue in cheek I know, but absolutely true.
Slighty away from on the field stuff but I’ve been really impressed with the way Jonas represents the club. He seems very deliberate about speaking well in press conferences about the club its values and just things more broadly in terms of football. An example is the “documentary” the club did on the team last season which relied a lot on his quotes to build the image of the team. It’s good to not only have a manager who does well on the pitch but someone who advocates for the game and speaks so well about the club and its… Read more »
Interesting you should say this, because I wasn’t sold on him at the start, but came round to him last season and last summer when he was being a pundit at the WWC. He did seem to grow last season and he does talk well about football and he genuinely respects female footballers and coaches.
If you’re talking about the 5-part Togetherness doc they released on the website, I agree. Every fan of Arsenal Women should watch that. It was most informative and gave me a whole new appreciation for Jonas’ management style.
Huge mistake by the club. Eidevall has done a clever job of persuading management that he knows what he’s doing, but despite having more talent than the club has ever had, he’s won nothing. Moving Miedema to midfield was/is idiotic–maybe the most incomprehensible move in the history of the league.
Why?