Jonas Eidevall has spoken of his delight after our captain Kim Little signed a new contract this week.
Our Scottish midfielder first joined us back in 2008 and has racked up six league titles, three FA Cups and five league cups in the famous red and white. Kim's commitment to a future in north London was music to our head coach's ears.
"Long term, it looks like very good news for us," said Eidevall. "She's just such a massive part of the culture that has made this club successful and in my eyes, she will continue to keep this club successful. So I'm delighted that she's staying."
When asked about how important Kim's role is off the pitch, Eidevall said it was impossible to separate the two aspects of her captaincy.
"The person she's on the pitch, setting those standards, both for herself and others, and having this high consistency in her performances comes from what she does off the pitch.
"When you combine these two things, it explains why she has so many clear examples to be a leader for this group."
The news of Kim's contract renewal somewhat softened the blow from her latest injury update, as our captain has officially been ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining an injury in the UWCL semi-final against Bayern Munich.
"Of course, it would hurt any team to lose a player like Kim, but we have managed so far during this season to handle the absence of many great football players.
"We need to show that adaptability again, keeping the key principles in the way we play but of course, adapting it to the individuals that now need to play."
At the age of only 32, Kim has already recorded almost 300 appearances for The Arsenal and is showing no sign of stopping as a midfielder running the show. When asked to speculate how much longer our skipper might be playing at the top level, Eidevall said that age is not always a "limiting factor".
"I always find that very, very hard to say. I was fortunate to work in Sweden with a player like Caroline Seger who is almost 40 years old now and she's been a top player for many years.
"I think if you take care of yourself and if you have the motivation to keep chasing those percentages every day, age doesn't necessarily have to be a limiting factor. It requires a lot. It's not for everyone.
"You need to have both the motivation and the talent. Kim definitely has both."
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