Slegers on Beth Mead transfer rumours: ‘She’s an Arsenal player’ | OneFootball

Beth Mead in action for Arsenal (Dylan Clinton/SPP)

Beth Mead was named in Arsenal’s starting line-up when they faced Tottenham Hotspur in a pre-season friendly on Saturday amidst continuing speculation linking her with a move away from the Gunners.

Head coach Renee Slegers did not speak at length about Mead’s future, but said: “Beth is an Arsenal player, so we’re building with what we have.”

Newly-promoted London City Lionesses have been rumoured to have been interested in the 30-year-old for some time, but so far no transfer has materialised.

Their head coach, Jocelyn Precheur, confirmed earlier in the month that the club had spoken about signing the two-time Women’s Euros winner, and said it was indicative of their ambition.

Mead signed for Arsenal in 2017, and has helped them to both the Women’s Super League title and the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

She previously played for Sunderland, with her goals a crucial part of their promotion campaign from WSL2 in 2014. She then became the youngest WSL Golden Boot winner in 2015-16, aged 20, scoring 12 goals in 14 appearances.

Slegers: ‘We have a lot of leaders’

Slegers was also circumspect about whether she may be considering a change of captain this season.

Kim Little has worn the armband for several years, but did not start Saturday’s match.

In her absence, Australia international Steph Catley skippered the side – but Slegers refused to be drawn on whether this was a long-term plan.

“All I can say here is that we have a lot of leaders in the team and so it’s a luxury position and part of my philosophy is to empower as many people as possible,” Slegers said.

One of those leaders would usually be Leah Williamson, the England captain, who will miss the start of the season due to a minor knee operation.

“Leah has been very important for us last season. She’s really good in possession with her progressive passing. She’s very intelligent out of possession as well. She’s a leader. So she’s been important for us, but we have a really big squad and a lot of good players. So when this happens, sometimes that’s part of football, that players aren’t available, then we have the next one to come in.”

Arsenal’s next pre-season friendly will be against West Ham United, at Meadow Park in Borehamwood, on Wednesday, 27th August, kick-off 7pm.

They begin their Women’s Super League campaign against London City Lionesses at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, 6th September.