‘We want to win the league’: Arsenal’s new recruit inks WSL success | Arsenal Women

Georgia Stanway checks his arms and down his legs on the first day of Arsenal’s pre-season. “As you can see, I’m tattooed,” he says. “I only see bare skin, space, so I need to keep collecting more”.

Body painting and tattooing is his way of creating, his way of expressing himself outside the arena. But spotting space is essential for the 27-year-old England midfielder to excel on the pitch.

Stanway’s introductory video, after leaving Bayern Munich, showed a legible “any weather” text on his arm. It was a bold statement to get the lyrics from North London Forever, Arsenal’s anthem, emblazoned on his skin before he walked onto the red and white Emirates Stadium. “It shows that I will give my all for this club. I want to hit the mark, play my game, connect with my teammates, connect with the fans and look forward to an exciting future at the club.”

Stanway is the star of Arsenal’s summer transfer window, one of seven signings so far. Meanwhile, Lotte Wubben-Moy, a lifelong fan who joined Arsenal’s academy at the age of 13, represents the club’s core and culture. It’s a culture that players want to be a part of, so it leads to players getting a tattoo on their first day there. “You set the bar very high,” Wubben-Moy said, with a grin. “That’s Georgia. She goes all in and I love that.”

Wubben-Moy is poised to stake his claim in Arsenal’s starting XI after struggling to find a place in defense despite his impressive performances while covering injured players. “I’ve always felt ready,” said the 27-year-old woman. “When I get my moment, I deliver. Historically, as a club, we are built on defensive strength. If we have a strong defense, it allows us to build and score. That should be a stepping stone to victory. So I will continue to contribute to the defensive strength in any way, shape or form. But I want my place”.

There was widespread recognition that the Arsenal squad needed to be rejuvenated, that the age needed to be brought down and changes made if they were to take the next step. That meant big names were leaving, especially Beth Mead and Katie McCabe. “They are both absolute legends of the game and we have a lot of respect for them,” said Jodie Taylor, the former Arsenal striker who became the club’s technical director in January. “But we always knew this window would bring some changes.”

“Change is inevitable in women’s football,” said Wubben-Moy. “If you talk to a player and he can’t say that he is playing, then you have found someone who is not well prepared for the game, we are a soft team, a team that knows how to move with the instability of women’s football.

“That’s not just for the playing team, it’s something repeated for the staff, the board, the commercial team, the comms team.

“If you would have asked me about change four or five years ago, I would have panicked, but now I know what to do and I am part of its driver.

Arsenal’s approach to recruiting Stanway influenced him to want to join the club. “Arsenal came early in the morning,” he says.

“The last four years in Munich were unbelievable, but I knew I wanted to take the next step and I felt at Arsenal there was an opportunity for me to develop, improve my game and play with world-class players.”

Arsenal did most of their business early on, with Stanway joined by experienced internationals Selina Çerçi, Géraldine Reuteler, Ona Batlle and Misa Rodríguez, as well as young talents Lisa Baum and Isabella Damm. No major international competition and the signing of seven on the first day of pre-season is a big boost for Renée Slegers and her coaching staff, especially after two slow starts in domestic campaigns.

“The market is not easy, however, it is constantly changing and there is a lot of talent at a small level and several clubs are fishing for it,” said Taylor. “You try and plan as much as you can, but you also have to be active in the market. We always try to look to the future, but we have to be quick.

“We can talk about positional needs, qualities, age and succession planning, but if a player is not available or not available, it can be like trying to fit square pegs and round holes. As well as looking at current needs and profiles of places, we talk a lot about our core style of play, but we also want to play with variety, uncertainty and have different qualities in players.”

The incoming players brought energy, said Wubben-Moy, who was busy during Arsenal’s Premier League and Women’s Champions Cup triumphs, and the bus passed Highbury Corner, where she filmed her contract renewal video, and passed Islington town hall, where she married cyclist Tao Geoghegan a few weeks later.

“I like to focus on what they do not have, which is a tradition created by history, by the players and employees who are the core of this team and all of whom have lived under changes of different titles: Kelly. [Smith]Renée, me, Leah [Williamson]Kim [Little]Jodie, too. We have become aware of many different things that we are all holding on to and we are releasing, in a healthy way, the things that we know we need. It’s working well, we’re focused, we know what we’re doing next.

“It’s like you cook a great recipe and add the last little ingredients that make the difference, elevate it, and create something beautiful that you can enjoy and enjoy. That’s what we have in store for you now in the long preseason. I’m looking forward to getting it out of the way to give the fans what we’re going to eat together and we’re going to eat together: ‘This is what we’re going to eat together and we’re going to eat together:’ all year long.”

The average attendance of over 34,000 fans at WSL games at the Emirates last season and the club’s pioneering history in women’s football, as well as winning the Champions League in 2025, are major selling points, and all involved at Arsenal want more, including the first Women’s Super League title from 2019.

“We’re in a good place,” Taylor said. “But we would have liked to have won more trophies last season and that is our biggest ambition going into this year. I will say it clearly: we want to win the league. We are an ambitious club and with the signings we have made we feel we are in a good place to do that.”