Eveliina Ahtinen extends Spurs stay: ‘We’ve been taking good steps’ | OneFootball

Eveliina Ahtinen has signed a Contract Extension with Tottenham Hotspur Women, keeping the Finland midfielder with Spurs Women as they continue building under Robert Vilahamn. The club confirmed the news on their official website, with Ahtinen again underlining her belief in the direction of the side in the WSL.

The 28-year-old joined Tottenham Hotspur Women from Linkopings in the summer of 2023 and has become a reliable part of Vilahamn’s midfield, combining control in possession with plenty of work out of it. She has made 55 appearances and scored three goals for the club, while remaining an important Finland international, and her time in north London has included Spurs’ first FA Cup final as well as this season’s fifth-place finish and record 33-point WSL haul.

‘We’ve been taking good steps’

Ahtinen made it clear that the club’s upward movement was central to her decision to stay.

“I’m happy that I get to be part of the journey we are on. I feel like we’ve been taking really good steps recently and I’m just really happy to be part of it,” she said. “I know where we have been and what direction we are going too, and I feel like the things that we are doing on a daily basis really show that we are going to be able to compete with the teams that are above us and we just want to get better every day.”

She added: “I feel like a lot has happened during my time at Spurs and that this season, we’ve shown really that we’ve taken steps in the way we play and I feel like even our day-to-day life. It’s been really good and challenging but it’s been the right place for me to become a better footballer. I’m excited to have a full pre-season with the team and have those weeks together, the time to build on the style we play, everything on and off the pitch.”

Spurs Women are trying to build from a strong base

For Tottenham Hotspur Women, keeping Ahtinen in place matters. Midfield continuity is not easy to find in the WSL, and her extension fits with a wider sense of stability around the squad as Vilahamn looks to push on from a season that ended with the club’s best-ever points total.

That broader picture has not always been straightforward at Spurs, both on and off the pitch, as shown in wider discussion around the club structure and Tottenham Women wages. Against that backdrop, retaining experienced players such as Ahtinen offers another sign that Spurs Women want to keep moving forward rather than stand still.

Leadership and what comes next

Ahtinen also spoke about the squad culture that has helped her settle and develop. “It’s so important what kind of team we are and how the girls help. In my hard moments, they’ve been my rock and it’s like another family to have here,” she said, via SPURSPLAY.

With Bethany England having now moved on, as covered in our recent Tottenham piece, experienced figures become even more important in the next phase of the squad. Ahtinen’s new deal gives Robert Vilahamn one more trusted option to carry that work into pre-season and beyond.