Seven years, no league title
Second. Second again. Arsenal have finished runners-up in the WSL in each of the last two seasons, behind Manchester City last year and Chelsea the one before, and if you widen the lens the picture only gets bleaker: three second-place finishes in five campaigns. The last title came in 2018-19.
Europe has treated them better. In May 2025 the Gunners beat Barcelona 1-0 in Lisbon for a second Champions League crown, 18 years after the first. No other English club has won it.
So this summer was never about tearing anything down. Renee Slegers has been sharpening an already elite squad, and the latest move sent more than £500,000 to PSG for Elisa De Almeida.
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572 balls won, and nobody at PSG came close
The 28-year-old France international covers centre-back and right-back. Since arriving at PSG in July 2021 she has recovered 572 balls, more than double any team-mate over that stretch. She tops the club for interceptions with 122 and successful tackles with 67.
Last season brought 34 interceptions in Division 1, best in the PSG squad, and a 75% success rate in the air. She is not purely a destroyer either. Four league assists, fifth among defenders, and 14.0 passes into the final third per game. In a side that intends to have the ball for most of the season, that second half of her game may matter more than the first.
The defence was never the problem
Arsenal already owned the best defensive record in the WSL. Eleven clean sheets, 14 goals conceded across 22 matches, 152 shots faced with 53 on target. Nobody beat those numbers on every line. Three errors led directly to goals. Three, all season.
What Slegers wanted was depth. Leah Williamson managed only 233 league minutes and started twice. Katie McCabe, gone this summer, led the defenders for recoveries with 104, interceptions with 19 and chances created with 23. De Almeida exists to keep the floor high when the first-choice names are unavailable.
The rest of the window says the same thing. Georgia Stanway, who has completed more passes in the opposition half than anyone in the Frauen-Bundesliga since 2022-23, 2,919 of them. Selina Cerci, 32 goals in 43 Bundesliga games for Hoffenheim. Ona Batlle, 16 assists in three seasons at Barcelona.
The underlying numbers already had Arsenal closer than the table suggested. They led the expected points standings on 49.7 xPts, ahead of City on 47.3 and Chelsea on 43.7, yet finished four points adrift. Six draws did the damage. Opta now puts their title chances at 25.6%. Chelsea remain favourites on 40.6%.
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