Guardian writers’ predicted position: 2nd (NB: this is not necessarily Suzanne Wrack’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Last season was a disappointment for Arsenal when it came to silverware, the inaugural Fifa Champions Cup coming nowhere near to sating the hunger there was to build on the Champions League success of 2025. To a certain extent, that helped paper over the cracks for a squad that needed an overhaul. That has come this summer, with 11 players departing, including the club legends Beth Mead and Katie McCabe, and seven arriving.
In the Spain full-back Ona Batlle, England midfielder Georgia Stanway, Switzerland midfielder Géraldine Reuteler and German forward Selina Cerci, Arsenal have added experienced top-tier talent while also lowering the age profile of the squad. Whether Mead and McCabe, allowed to leave to Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, come back to haunt Arsenal remains to be seen, but Renée Slegers has had a full pre-season for the first time, having secured qualification for the Champions League league phase through their second-place finish in the Women’s Super League. After two slow starts to WSL campaigns, including four draws and a defeat in their opening nine matches last year, a summer without a major international tournament or Champions League qualifiers gives Arsenal no excuses going into the season.
The title race will probably be tighter this year, with City also competing in the Champions League and many other sides having invested shrewdly, but Arsenal have an opportunity to end a seven-year wait for a league title. During that year, the average attendance at the Emirates Stadium for eight games was 29,833 and Arsenal brought in matchday revenue of just under £6m. Arsenal’s filing will probably show further progress when the effect of last season’s average attendance of more than 34,000 for all 11 of their WSL home games is revealed.
There have been successes in other areas too: broadcast revenue was up to more than £2m, more than double the £956,000 of 2024 (in part thanks to their Champions League success) and commercial revenue increased from £649,000 to £1.77m. Like many WSL sides though, Arsenal are still very reliant on money from the parent club, with group income increased from £9.3m to £11.85m, more than half of their overall revenue. Slegers goes into her second full season in charge with expectations high.
The 37-year-old has worked wonders since stepping in as interim manager after the exit of Jonas Eidevall and has a chance to show her quality. Slegers inherited an established squad and this summer’s overhaul gives her a chance to shape the team in the way she wants it to look and play. Arsenal have plunged into the transfer market and come out with some big fish, with the two-time Euro-winning Stanway perhaps the pick of the bunch.
Stanway brings exceptional talent and has already established relationships with several England teammates at the club. She also brings something Arsenal have been lacking: steeliness. The 27-year-old is a battling, physical midfielder, who, as she recently told the Guardian, is “ruthless and robust”.
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