Alessia Russo

England striker Alessia enhanced her already glowing reputation in 2024/25, finishing as the club’s top scorer with 20 goals in all competitions and sharing the WSL Golden Boot with Manchester City’s Bunny Shaw with 12.

Her eight goals in the UEFA Champions League tied her with Mariona Caldentey for second place in the scoring chart behind Barcelona’s Claudia Pina (10) and included crucial strikes in the wins over Bayern Munich (3-2), Real Madrid (two in the 3-0 home win) and Lyon (4-1 away).

The skilful, pacy forward had signed for the Gunners in July 2023 and netted 16 times in her first season, helping us to win the League Cup. An intelligent player who’s adept at dropping deep to link play and featured both as a No10 and left winger on occasion last term, Alessia joined us following the end of her deal at Manchester United, where she scored 27 goals in 59 appearances.

Having made her international debut in 2020, her clever backheel against Sweden at Euro 2021 was named Goal of the Tournament, and she starred at the 2023 World Cup, scoring three goals to help the Lionesses to the final, before leading the line for England at Euro 2025.