Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s upcoming Women’s Super League trip to face Manchester City at the Joie Stadium on Sunday, Renée Slegers gave an insight into the Gunners’ deadline day swoop for Chloe Kelly, the acquisition of Jenna Nighswonger and the women’s transfer market in general.
Arsenal shocked the women’s footballing world when, with just hours to go before the deadline slammed shut at 23:00 GMT on Thursday, news broke of their interest in signing Chloe Kelly on loan for the remainder of the season. The England forward had publicly slammed Manchester City for their treatment of her, with a move to Manchester United or Brighton looking most likely for the 27-year-old.
But Slegers revealed that the forward, who graduated from Arsenal’s academy and made 19 appearances for the first team during her previous stint in North London, has “been on our list” for some time.
“I did have a conversation with her yesterday,” she confirmed, adding that it “was a conversation with thoughts, feelings and questions from both end, and it was very good. I think we both opened up.”
“I tried to open up about what Arsenal is and what she could mean for us, and she opened up about what she can bring to us and what her ambitions are, so it was a very good conversation.”
Kelly was one of two deadline day arrivals in North London, with the Gunners confirming earlier in the day that they had secured the services of 24-year-old Jenna Nighswonger.
Embed from Getty Images“We needed one more left-footed defender, so we’re happy she’s with us,” Slegers told reporters gathered at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday, acknowledging that “she hasn’t played as a left-back for so long, she’s been in midfield before so we’re very excited to see that.”
Deadline day was packed full of action, with another high-profile story centring around Keira Walsh’s anticipated move to Chelsea for a fee expected to be in the region of £800,000 [€950,000]. Slegers said: “It’s hard for me to comment on that, it’s another club’s business at the moment.”
The England and Barcelona midfielder has reportedly been the subject of interest from Arsenal in the past, but Arsenal’s Dutch head coach stressed that “I’ve just stepped into the role, and I wasn’t part of the process before.”
It has been a busy transfer window across the Women’s Super League, and Slegers suggested that it is a sign of “every club trying to push the women’s game and trying to develop [but] every club does that in the way they believe is best for them and the women’s game in general.”
“We have our plans, we have our way of doing things and we believe in a certain way – everyone is talking about the Arsenal way. That’s also about processes in the background, what we believe is right for us and we believe in those processes.”