Page 34 - Jonas Eidevall News Today

Norway international Frida Maanum has signed a new contract with Arsenal for whom she has so far made 78 appearances and scored 20 goals.

True to Eidevall's words, Lotte pushed her way into the Lionesses World Cup team, becoming the only Arsenal player to do so, with the obvious suspects, Beth Mead and Lionesses captain Leah Williamson, set to miss the tournament through ACL injuries.

Of Arsenal Women's 8 first-team defenders, Rafaelle is leaving and Leah Williamson and Laura Wienroither will be unlikely to return to the pitch before the 2nd half of the 2023-24 season - leaving our Gunners with 5 first-team defenders..

There are a total of 59 teams that will play in Round 1, across 2 legs, on 6th-9th September, with Arsenal Women seeded highest amongst all the teams in this round, as they have a long history in the Champions League and reached the semi-final stage this season.

With Rafaelle Souza leaving, Jonas Eidevall will be looking for a quality defender who could try to fill the void the Brazilian is leaving at Meadow Park. The Arsenal boss will have all summer and the World Cup to decide who to bring in as a worthy replacement for the Brazil captain.

Arsenal Women 2022/23 season review: Top scorers, assists & player of the year after turbulent and rocky campaign for the Gunners

Winning the Continental Cup by beating league champions Chelsea 3-1, reaching the Champions League semi-finals, and managing to collect the points they needed to finish third in the WSL to secure Champions League qualification for next season, are why it feels okay to say Jonas Eidevall did a great thing this season.

Arsenal managed to secure the last qualification spot for the UWCL ahead of Manchester City, thanks to a superior goal difference. Following the match, Jonas Eidevall, Arsenal's manager, spoke to the press after the defeat and discussed what Arsenal Women need to do for improvement next season.

Given the fact that the departure of Brazilian international defender Rafaelle has been confirmed this week, and Eidevall has lost two of his other key defenders, Leah Williamson and Laura Wienroither, to significant ACL injuries, Arsenal surely must be looking to bring Anna Patten back into the fold?

Any girl who looks up to Rafaelle Souza would be keen to join Arsenal in her career if she only heard the wonderful things the 31-year-old has said about becoming a Gunner. The defender has stated her intention to leave Arsenal this summer for personal reasons.