Arsenal Women boss Jonas Eidevall says he is not expecting the level of churn we saw last summer in the upcoming summer transfer window. The Swede, who extended his Gunners contract this week, arrived at the club last summer.
With him, came six new players, some of whom he had a hand in recruiting, others he did not. In January, Arsenal added a further three players in the shape of striker Stina Blackstenius, defender Rafaelle and right-back Laura Wienroither.
When asked by Arseblog News whether this coming transfer window will look as busy, he was circumspect. “No, not really. Last summer was busy with players in and out. I think we have a very stable core in the squad, so it is about finding diamonds that can improve us further.”
Eidevall did not bring any coaching staff with him from Sweden, preferring to retain predecessor Joe Montemurro’s assistant coaches Aaron D’Antino and Leanne Hall. He said that he wants to keep the core coaching group in place but add to the backroom staff.
“With regards to the staff I am very, very happy working with the people we have here and they were a major part of my decision to sign a new contract.
“I hope to keep them but maybe add on some more functions here during the summer that we need to do to elevate our organisation to the next step.”
There are still some core player contracts to sort, with Noelle Maritz, Caitlin Foord and Vivianne Miedema’s deals expiring this summer. Maritz’s agents were in London recently. The futures of those players will govern the level of business that Arsenal will need to do.
Jen Beattie, Lydia Williams, Lisa Evans (on loan at West Ham) and Simone Boye are also out of contract this summer and are expected to leave the club.
We are all looking for diamonds.