She made the right decision’ – Declan Rice & Alessia Russo reflect on Arsenal transfer decisions after leaving West Ham & Man Utd behind

Arsenal made some massive moves in the transfer market last summer as they snapped up two dynamic English superstars in Rice and Russo. While they forked out £105 million ($137m) for Rice, Russo joined as a free agent upon the expiry of her contract with United.

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  WHAT RICE SAID

  Reflecting on Russo’s transfer to Arsenal, In an interview with Sky Sports, Rice recounted: “When I signed here, I signed for a massive club. A lot of expectations. But I do remember her singing as we bumped into each other in the gym and then we just got speaking a little bit. It’s just come around so quickly. A year has flown by now. We both had an amazing year. In the second year, we hope to be successful.”

  He added: “There was so much talk about her coming and I remember seeing that loads of clubs wanted her. But she chose Arsenal and when I bumped into her we were talking about how excited she was to be here. She made the right decision and so did I.”

• • THE BIGGER PICTURE

    The Arsenal teams are chasing league glory and to do that they must overthrow Chelsea in the WSL and Manchester City in the Premier League. Russo admitted that the squad is expected to conquer England and they will be giving their all to land some silverware.

    “As Dec said, coming to Arsenal, there is a responsibility to win trophies,” Russo said.

    “The club is on this journey and the women’s team is the most successful club in England. There is a responsibility to win trophies and to step up and perform. We wanted it more last season, we had a great pre-season, and we should have a massive year ahead. We know the standard of our team is to go out and win trophies. So that’s what we want this year.”

    Rice echoed Russo’s thoughts and added: “When we came back, it was like one of the manager’s first meetings – in terms of like how can we be better this season, how can we upgrade. We missed out on the league last year by two points, the year before was four points. So, it was how can we keep getting better and striving for more. We are really close. It is the finer details, the Villa game which let us down towards the end – we reflect on that. It was disappointing but overall such a positive year again. You know the players they (Arsenal Women) have signed this summer, I’m sure that this year they will be lifting the league. Their squad is unbelievable.”

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    WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

    Arsenal will lock horns with Manchester City on Sunday. While the men’s team will make a trip to Etihad, Russo and Co. will be hosting the Cityzens at Emirates.