Arsenal Set To Sign Élisa De Almeida From PSG On Deadline Day | OneFootball

Arsenal are expected to finalise the signing of France defender Élisa De Almeida from Paris Saint-Germain before the 11pm BST Women’s Super League transfer deadline, with a fee in the region of £550,000 agreed between the two clubs. That matters because it would hand the WSL champions extra defensive cover just as they prepare to open their title defence without Vivianne Miedema, who is sidelined by a knee injury for an unspecified period.

De Almeida is 28 and has been a PSG player since 2021, giving Arsenal a defender with several seasons of top-level experience in the French top flight rather than a raw prospect. The WSL season gets under way on Friday, with London City Lionesses hosting Manchester United, so any deal struck on deadline day would need to be registered promptly if De Almeida is to feature early in the campaign.

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De Almeida’s PSG spell and the shape of the deal

BBC Sport’s Emma Sanders first reported the agreement, with sources in France suggesting a fee in the region of £550,000, and Arsenal have made no comment on the exact figure themselves. PSG, meanwhile, are understood to be far more resistant to letting Nigeria midfielder Jennifer Echegini leave amid interest from Manchester City.

De Almeida is versatile enough to play at right-back as well as centre-back, and has one year remaining on her PSG contract. She began her senior career at Paris FC before a spell at Montpellier, joining PSG in 2021, where she has since made more than 100 appearances and gained regular experience in the Women’s Champions League. At international level, she has won 52 caps for France, including selection in Les Bleues’ squads at the 2023 World Cup and Euro 2025.

Arsenal’s defensive rebuild has been a talking point all summer, following on from other departures and arrivals in the back line that She Kicks has covered in recent weeks. Adding an established international at the back fits a club that has spent the window trying to shore up numbers in defence.

Why Arsenal want defensive reinforcement

Arsenal are the reigning WSL champions, and champions rarely stand still in the market. The push to add De Almeida has been fuelled partly by Miedema’s knee injury, which will keep her out for an unspecified stretch and has clearly sharpened the club’s focus on strengthening the group before the season starts in earnest.

Centre-back has remained a priority area all summer regardless of Miedema’s situation. Arsenal’s current options there, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Katie Reid and Steph Catley, have been stretched further by Laia Codina’s departure and by Reid’s continued recovery from an ACL injury, leaving genuine cover short heading into the new season.

That decision says plenty about how Renee Slegers’ side are thinking beyond attack alone, treating squad depth as a season-long project rather than a one-window fix. It follows a summer that has already added Ona Batlle, Georgia Stanway and Selina Cerci to the squad, alongside the loan deal covered in She Kicks’ recent look at Sophie Harwood’s move to Sheffield United, part of the wider reshuffling around Arsenal’s squad this window.

The move remains unconfirmed

It is worth stressing that nothing here is official yet. Reporting describes Arsenal as expected to finalise the deal before the deadline, not as having completed it, and there has been no club statement confirming registration at the time of writing.

What happens before the WSL deadline

The clock is now the story. With the 11pm BST cut-off approaching on transfer deadline day, the next step will be official confirmation from Arsenal, mirroring the kind of late-window movement seen elsewhere in the league, including Lia Wälti’s move to Brighton earlier in the market. Until Arsenal or PSG issue a formal statement, De Almeida’s exact squad role, shirt number and availability for the opening weeks of the season remain open questions.

What is clear is the intent. A WSL title-winning side has identified a gap and moved to fill it before the window shuts.