Arsenal's Squad Depth: A Season Built for Success
Arsenal have been here before: talked up, talked down, always in the conversation. This time, though, the noise around them feels rooted in something more concrete than optimism. It’s rooted in depth.
A squad built for a long season
Across the pitch, Jonas Eidevall and his staff now look at options rather than compromises. Every position has at least one serious alternative, often two, and many of them already know what it means to carry expectation.
Olivia Smith arrives as a “young” player only on paper. Three standout senior seasons behind her, a big price tag handled with composure in 2025-26, and a growing reputation as someone who doesn’t shrink when the stakes rise.
Smilla Holmberg brings a similar profile. Still early in her career, but hardened by minutes at the sharp end – including an hour in Sweden’s European Championship quarter-final defeat to England last summer. Those experiences matter when the pressure cranks up in March and April.
Lisa Baum is different again. Less international exposure than Smith or Holmberg, but she has been playing senior football since she was 15. That kind of early immersion in the professional game tends to show in the details: decision-making, positioning, the ability to ride contact and keep playing.
This is the new Arsenal: youth, yes, but not naivety.
One lingering worry at the back
For all the strength across the squad, one anxiety still hangs over the centre of defence.
Leah Williamson remains the emotional and tactical anchor of this team, yet her recent fitness record refuses to settle. Katie Reid is still working her way back from an ACL injury. If Williamson suffers another setback, Arsenal could be left with Lotte Wubben-Moy and Steph Catley as the only recognised centre-back options.
Both are dependable. Both have proved they can perform at the highest level. But across a full season, with domestic and European demands, that is a thin margin for a club with title ambitions on multiple fronts.
Everywhere else, the squad feels loaded. At centre-back, it still feels one injury away from a problem.
Midfield no longer walking a tightrope
That fragility doesn’t extend to midfield anymore.
Last season, Arsenal lived dangerously there. When Kim Little or Mariona Caldentey were missing, the drop in control and creativity was stark. Little is still an outstanding influence, but at 36, asking her to shoulder the same burden over another long campaign is unrealistic.
The arrivals of Georgia Stanway and Geraldine Reuteler change the picture completely.
Stanway brings a ferocious competitive edge and a complete midfielder’s toolkit. She can set the tempo, break lines, and drag a team through difficult spells almost by force of will. Reuteler, whose quality flashed brightly at Euro 2025, offers guile, movement, and the intelligence to link different zones of the pitch.
Together with Little and Caldentey, they give Arsenal a midfield core that can be reshuffled without weakening. Rest is now a tactical choice, not a risk.
Easing the load on Russo
Up front, one theme has defined recent seasons: Alessia Russo, again and again, answering the call.
For both Arsenal and England, Russo has carried a huge workload. The fact she has remained largely injury-free speaks volumes about her conditioning and professionalism off the pitch. But no elite striker should be asked to run at full throttle from August to May.
This summer’s business finally offers her some breathing space.
Selina Cerci joins a striker group that already includes Russo, Stina Blackstenius and Michelle Agyemang, who is working her way back from an ACL injury. Cerci arrives with serious numbers behind her: more Bundesliga goals than any other player across the last two seasons. That is not a prospect’s profile; that is a proven finisher stepping into an already dangerous forward line.
With those options, Arsenal can rotate without losing their cutting edge. Russo can sit out games without the entire attacking structure sagging.
New answers at No.10
One of the more intriguing shifts comes in the No.10 role.
Frida Maanum has been the most consistent starter there, but Arsenal never quite settled on a long-term solution. Victoria Pelova, now departed, never fully nailed the position. Experiments with Kyra Cooney-Cross in that space didn’t produce what the staff wanted. Rosa Kafaji, signed in 2024 as another possible answer, has been sold to London City Lionesses.
On paper, that might look like another hole. In reality, it opens up a more fluid approach.
Reuteler, Little, Caldentey and Stanway can all operate higher up the pitch, just behind the striker. Maanum, crucially, can also drop deeper, giving Eidevall freedom to tilt the midfield depending on the opponent.
Arsenal can now mix and match combinations: more control for a tricky away game, more runners for a stretched contest, more creativity when facing a deep block. Rotation becomes a weapon, not a necessity.
Champions of Europe, still hungry
All of this is layered on top of something vital: Arsenal already know how to win.
Under Slegers, they have lifted the Champions League and pushed deep into the latter stages while defending their title. That experience of managing two-leg ties, of navigating fixture congestion, of handling expectation on the biggest stage, is now baked into the squad’s mentality.
The new arrivals don’t just add bodies. They add star power.
Ona Batlle is a world-class full-back, one of the best in her position anywhere. Stanway is among the elite midfielders in the global game. Cerci’s Bundesliga goal return speaks for itself. Reuteler’s performances at Euro 2025 showed a player comfortable under the brightest lights. Baum looks like a signing for now and for the years to come.
This is not a rebuild. It is a refinement of a team that already sits near the top of Europe’s hierarchy.
The rivals and the road ahead
The domestic landscape, though, is as unforgiving as ever.
Manchester City deserve full respect as defending WSL champions. Their title run last season came without the distraction of Champions League football, a luxury they no longer enjoy. Now they must balance midweek European nights with the relentless pace of the league. That is a different test entirely.
Chelsea, the standard-bearers for six straight titles before City’s triumph, remain a giant. But last season was their weakest WSL campaign in seven years. Questions linger over parts of their current squad and a recent injury record that shredded their depth at crucial moments. They are still dangerous, still capable of going on long winning runs, yet they no longer feel untouchable.
Manchester United have slipped out of the immediate title conversation after a quiet summer and the surprise departure of head coach Marc Skinner. London City Lionesses, for all their ambition and the headline signing of two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, are probably a season or two away from mounting a serious challenge across 22 games.
So the stage is clear.
Arsenal have a squad stacked with quality, versatility and experience. They have tactical flexibility, genuine competition for places, and the memory of lifting the biggest trophy of all.
They know what it takes to cross the line in Europe.
Now comes the question that will define their season: can they finally do it again in the WSL, for the first time since 2019?
