Arsenal winger leaves to be closer to family | OneFootball

Canada winger Cloe Lacasse has decided to move to the NWSL to be closer to her family and guarantee more game time to cement her CANXNT place.

LONDON, ENGLAND: Cloe Lacasse of Arsenal celebrates scoring her team’s second goal during the Barclays Women’s Super League match between Arsenal FC and Manchester United at Emirates Stadium on February 17, 2024. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

Arsenal bought Cloe Lacasse last Summer from Benfica having tried in the previous window, but not managing to agree on a fee. She was obviously signed to be an alternative to Beth Mead on the right wing, while the England winger was coming back from her ACL injury.

She played 28 games for 1260 minutes and scored five goals. She was ranked 14th in the overall minutes played by the whole squad, having come on as a substitute 15 times during the season. Her WSL stats ended with 19 games, six starts, played 641 minutes total, had three goals and two assists.

It does makes sense for her to move on from the club, if game time is going to be hard to come by. Last season, she could have been used a lot more in the rotation for Beth Mead on the right-wing and Caitlin Foord on the left-wing. Especially as Foord was a player who was an injury risk due to a lot of travel and game time accumulated over multiple seasons.

LONDON, ENGLAND: Beth Mead and Cloe Lacasse of Arsenal in action with Lucy Staniforth and Alisha Lehmann of Aston Villa during the Barclays Womens Super League match between Arsenal FC and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on October 15, 2023. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

I find it bizzare that the club would chase a player, pay a transfer fee and then end up not playing her enough for the role she had been assigned to. You do wonder, if the coaching staff was not confident enough in her ability. At the end of the day, the club gets a transfer fee, the player gets more game time, it is a good deal for all the parties.

The only question is: How does it affect the depth of the squad on the wing? Starters would be likely to be Mead and Foord, then Hurtig is the back-up on the left side. Caldentey can also play there. Godfrey can play on both wings if she is not sent on loan. And we know McCabe can play on both wings too, so it should not be a problem.

Cloe leaves the club after a year and great memories for the fans: