How Alessia Russo became one of Europe's most fearsome strikers with Arsenal and England star back in Ballon d'Or contention

Russo was signed by Arsenal on a free transfer under the tenure of former head coach Jonas Eidevall, who actually tried to prise her away from United six months earlier for a fee that would have been a world-record at the time. Understandably, given it was midway through the 2022-23 season, United didn't accept the £500,000 ($620,000) bid from their Women's Super League rivals, but that the Gunners made that effort said it all when it came to Eidevall's assessment of the player.

When Russo arrived in north London, though, Eidevall regularly fielded questions about her goal-scoring. The England international was clearly excellent at many things; her hold-up play is among the best in the world, while her ability to drop deep or drift wide to get involved in the build-up play, and be a key player in that, was immediately evident. But when it came to putting the ball in the back of the net, Russo didn't always look like a natural, not least because she didn't always occupy the positions that a typical centre-forward would.

"I said early on that her finishing ability is the best that I have ever worked with," Eidevall said ahead of the 2024-25 season. "What is important with Alessia is developing and playing and the goal-scoring positions she increasingly finds herself in. I think as a forward, that should be your aim all the time, to be in the right positions, because if you are, the goals come as a consequence. If she is getting enough goal-scoring opportunities, goals are sure to happen."

Both England and Arsenal worked on getting Russo into goal-scoring positions on a more regular basis. Her underlying numbers improved as a result and, as Eidevall predicted, her goals increased along the way. After netting 16 in all club competitions in the 2023-24 campaign, Russo got 20 last year and is currently on 19 this term, set to improve her tally for a fifth season in a row when also taking into account her United days.

And while Eidevall was adamant that her finishing was always fantastic, there is clear improvement in that, too. Perhaps some of it is in Russo's composure in front of goal, which has benefitted from the regularity in which she finds herself in those positions, but it was hard not to watch Russo's sweet finish against Chelsea last week and not think she's also taken strides in that department, even if it wasn't the key area that needed addressing.

"She’s one of the best finishers I’ve seen," Renee Slegers, Arsenal's current head coach, and assistant to Eidevall during his tenure, said at the weekend.

"I think in games, what you see now is that when she gets to the right spaces with the right timing, she has so much conviction in what she's doing and I think that's what's taken her to another level," Slegers had said a few days earlier, after the win over Chelsea. "She was already at the highest level, almost, but she's just winning those small margins at the moment."

Most impressive of all is that Russo has been able to show all of that even when deployed as a No.10. That's the position she started in when Arsenal hosted Chelsea last week and also when they beat West Ham last weekend. She scored in both games.

"It's something that maybe at first I struggled with a little bit," Russo admitted on Saturday, speaking on Sky Sports after the win over Tottenham. "I think now I understand the details of the 10 a bit more, I find it a little bit easier. On the ball, I like both, because they offer different parts of my game."

That always felt like a potential catch-22 with Russo. If you push her to be a more traditional No.9 who is a constant fox in the box, discouraging her to drift wide or drop deep to create for others, do you lose some of what makes her great? But Slegers may well be onto something when it comes to allowing all sides of Russo's game to shine.

That's not just because Slegers is occasionally deploying Russo in the No.10, but also because she is putting her in the same starting line-up as Stina Blackstenius more regularly, too. It was a tactic Eidevall flirted with from time to time, but only adopted on rare occasions. Slegers, though, has gone to it more often, especially recently, and seen a partnership blossom between the two.

It allows Russo to occupy deeper spaces without Arsenal being deprived of a consistent presence in the box, while also creating an air of unpredictability in the Gunners' attack. That's because Blackstenius has shown her strengths in being the one to take up other positions, too, allowing Russo to burst into the No.9 spaces, sometimes catching the opposition off-guard.

Russo isn't the goal-getter that Manchester City's Khadija Shaw is, for example, or Barcelona's Ewa Pajor. In Europe's top five leagues, no one has scored more goals this season than Shaw, with Pajor third in that ranking. Barcelona's Claudia Pina, a more versatile forward, separates the two traditional strikers in the list.

But Russo continues to improve in that realm while still letting her all-round game shine, which allows the team she is in to be successful, too. That's the most important thing in football, after all, and it also plays a role when it comes to something like the Ballon d'Or.

Russo's contributions for Arsenal and England last season were not limited to her goals, or even her assists. What she did out of possession, or off the ball when her team did have it, was also vital and helped the Gunners to win the Champions League while the Lionesses won Euro 2025, both accomplishments that played a part in getting Russo up the Ballon d'Or rankings.

Every team requires different things from their centre-forward and for both Arsenal and England, the 27-year-old ticks all the boxes.

It's an interesting race for the Golden Ball in 2026. Aitana Bonmati has won the last three Golden Balls, but will give up her crown this time, as she has unfortunately missed most of the season through injury. Despite that, Barca have been outstanding and look like the front-runners for the Champions League, so Pina, Pajor and Alexia Putellas would all be popular shouts for the 2026 winner, with other contenders to depend on who rises to the challenge of battling the Catalans for the big trophy.

That's what Russo and Arsenal did last year, beating Barca in the final to cause a real shock. That triumph didn't prove to be the catalyst for a WSL title challenge that many expected this term but, barring a collapse at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, the Gunners remain on track to defend their European crown.

As long as that's the case, Russo is likely to find herself up there again when it comes to Ballon d'Or night, with her continued improvements and consistent performances showing why she deserves to be.