Arsenal boss Slegers relishing ‘unknown’ challenge against London City Lionesses | OneFootball

Arsenal boss Renee Slegers says she is happy to see women’s football growing as the Gunners prepare to host the well-backed, newly promoted London City Lionesses in their WSL opener.

Aiming to dethrone Chelsea and claim their first WSL title since 2019, to start strongly the Champions League winners must overcome London City Lionesses, who have bolstered their squad with 17 new signings ahead of their first season in England’s top flight.

The Lionesses have brought in French international Grace Geyoro from PSG for more than £1m and have also strengthened their squad with experience and depth, adding former Manchester City defender Alanna Kennedy, Lyon midfielder Danielle van de Donk, and ex-Manchester United winger Nikita Parris.

“I think you see the record is being beaten, so I think we want to push and grow the women’s game,” Slegers said.

“Everything included, that’s the work the players do on a daily basis to make the game even better.

“It’s the work we do as coaches and as staff to make sure that the game grows and the players can perform on even higher levels.

“It’s you guys, the media, helping us pushing the game forward, giving us the exposure. It’s everything, and investment is always going to be key. I’m really happy that you can see that on all different levels.

“I’m just very happy that the game is growing.”

With so many new additions, Saturday’s fixture carries an added element of unpredictability over what level London City Lionesses are capable of competing at.

“We’ll see. That’s the unknown, it’s new,” Slegers explained.

“Of course, they’ve had their season in the WSL 2. This is also new for them, and it’s new for us. That’s part of the challenge for us on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of unknowns. Of course, we’ve seen them play last season. We have a good idea of who they are and what they are.

“But at the end of the day, we haven’t played against this team because it’s very new with a lot of new players. Just as many unknowns for me as for you, I guess. But of course, we’re very happy, and it’s an exciting project.”