Time for Alessia Russo to step up: Arsenal transfer offers Lionesses star the perfect opportunity to take her game to the next level

Arsenal’s interest in Russo goes back some years. The club actually looked at her at the start of 2020, and conversations were had with then manager Joe Montemurro, who described the player as being "very interested".

However, the Covid-19 pandemic caused chaos. Russo was in the U.S. at the time, representing the North Carolina Tar Heels, and there was a lot of confusion around the college season.

“It was bound to start, then it stopped. Then they started it again, and then they canned it. Then, all of a sudden, there was a big rush to get players signed and players sorted,” Montemurro explained in late 2020. “Unfortunately, with Alessia, we just weren't in a position at the time to bring her in and she obviously found a solution at United. All credit to her, she's doing very well.”

That interest was revived in January, when Arsenal submitted a world-record bid for Russo in a desperate attempt to sign a forward before the end of the winter window, having lost both Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema to ACL injuries in the first half of the season.

Understandably, United were never going to let their starting striker join a team they were rivalling for the Women’s Super League title and Women’s Champions League places. It was the right decision, even if she left for free.

Three-and-a-half years on from their initial interest, Arsenal have finally got their target, beating both United and NWSL side Washington Spirit to her signature.

Having watched her score a late, late winner at the Emirates last season in what was a thrilling 3-2 win for Manchester United, Arsenal know all about Russo’s qualities. The England star is a top finisher, she can hold the ball up well and she’s good in the air, too, all traits that make her a brilliant back-to-goal centre-forward.

Russo's movement is also excellent and helped her form a great relationship with Ella Toone, United's playmaking midfielder. It will be interesting to see how those partnerships develop between her and her new team-mates at Arsenal, because the London club have a lot of players able to thread those eye-of-the-needle passes.

Throw in Russo's quality in possession and skillfulness, and she will suit the Gunners' easy-on-the-eye style of play, while she also brings big experience despite only being 24. After all, the forward was a stand-out performer in England’s Euro 2022 triumph, scoring four goals in six games despite coming off the bench in all of them.

This is the biggest question around Russo’s move to Arsenal. The forward will compete with Stina Blackstenius for that starting striker role, but will bring something very different to the table in comparison to the Swede.

While Blackstenius presses hard and makes great runs off the shoulder, Russo - who can still make runs in behind - plays more with her back to goal and can drop deeper at times to get involved.

Will that see her get in the way of players like Miedema, who upon her return from an ACL will likely play as a No.10 again? Or will it open up space for her, Frida Maanum and others to run in behind? Will Russo have to adapt to Arsenal’s style, or will the Gunners adapt to suit their new signing?

It’s certainly going to be interesting to watch her time with the club unfold because of these questions. Arsenal have a lot of very different attacking options they can deploy now, and those different combinations in the front three, and in midfield, could also change how things look as Russo prepares to pull on the club’s colours for the first time.

It could well add another dynamic to Jonas Eidevall's team and make them more adaptable.

Another significant thing to note about Russo’s arrival at the Emirates is that it improves Arsenal’s depth up top. The Gunners were hit so hard by injuries last year and, as a result, the goal-scoring burden fell heavily on the shoulders of Blackstenius. To have two centre forwards who can now absorb that responsibility will not only help the Swede, but also Mead and Miedema.

The injured pair should start to come back into the fold as the 2023-24 season begins, and Russo’s addition means even less pressure should be on them as they start to return from long lay-offs.

It’s also a good signing for Gio, the young Brazilian that was on loan at Everton for the first half of the 2022-23 season after joining from Barcelona last summer. She was doing well with the Toffees, finding her feet in English football without too much pressure on her, until Eidevall had to recall the 20-year-old in January due to those injuries.

Gio had her part to play when she came back to north London, but it was always going to be difficult for her to make a huge mark under the circumstances. Russo’s arrival likely opens the door for her to get another productive loan spell in England under her belt instead.

Now that Russo has made the move to the most successful club in English women’s football, it’s time for her to step up and take her game to the next level. There is no doubting her ability and, at 24 years old, the potential she has to get even better. She shone for England during the Euros and has proven herself a clinical finisher, but she still only netted 10 league goals last season for United. Those numbers will need to improve if she wants to be Arsenal’s first-choice striker, as the competition at the club for her place will be much tougher than it was at United.

It'll be important for her international career, too, as the race for the No.9 shirt with the Lionesses is certainly heating up, with Rachel Daly having scored a record-equalling 22 times in the last WSL campaign and Beth England netting 12 after a January move to Tottenham.

That said, Russo should get the service to help her improve. She was only on the receiving end of nine big chances in the WSL last season, ranking her ninth across the division. Given the Gunners have a wider variety of players who will create for her, that number should certainly go up.

There will be a lot for Russo to adapt to upon her arrival at Arsenal - the style of play, a different role, new team-mates and her first experience of Champions League football among it all. But she is certainly capable of showing that she can deliver for the most historic club in the English women’s game.