Aside from signing a right back, Emily Fox, it was always assumed that Arsenal Women would recruit a goalkeeper this winter, and, given how keen they were to sign Mary Earps last summer, many Gooners were surprised the club didn’t consider making another move for her this winter.
In 2023, Arsenal was reportedly willing to make the Manchester United goalie the most expensive signing in women’s football.
Having said that, it appears the Gunners have found a goalkeeper on whom they can rely for the rest of the season. Sarah Bouhaddi will join Arsenal until the end of the season, according to Tim Stillman of arseblognews, although the deal has yet to be finalized. “She would be an ideal candidate, yes, but it’s not done yet,” said Eidevall, as per Tim Stillman.
Arseblog News understands that former Lyon GK Sarah Bouhaddi likely to come in on loan until the end of the season as cover because Sabrina D’Angelo will be away at the Gold Cup in February. Jonas Eidevall tells me, ‘She would be an ideal candidate, yes, but it’s not done yet.’
— Tim Stillman (@Stillmanator) January 12, 2024
The 37-year-old’s signing is critical because Arsenal will be without Sabrina D’Angelo during the Gold Cup in February.
It is unlikely Manuela Zinsberger gets injured, but with Sabrina D’Angelo gone, if she’s injured, Jonas Eidevall may be in a dilemma. The Gunner women are not taking chances this season; they learned lessons from the injury struggles of the 2022–23 season.
As Eidevall said via Arsenal.com, “I think we need to cover for one particular situation and that is the Gold Cup coming up in February and March. We have a very high likelihood of one of our goalkeepers being selected for that and we can’t really predict how the availability is going to be for the rest of our goalkeepers during that period, or how long that period is going to be. So ideally, we’ll bring someone in to help us through that period to manage that risk in a good way.”
Maybe sarah may end up impressing Eidevall so much that we can finally forget about chasing Mary Earps?
Michelle Maxwell
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Let’s hope Earps is history! One body we do not need.