Rafaelle Souza wrote her name into the Arsenal history books on Tuesday afternoon, as she became the first-ever Brazilian to sign for our women’s team.
A pacey, skilful and experienced defender, Souza has made 33 appearances for her national side to date - but now she’s ready for her first taste of European football.
“I feel like when I decided to come here, I was looking for a club where I can show my football and show my skills and be in the centre of the world,” Rafaelle told Arsenal Media.
“That’s my challenge, to show my football to the world, because after being in China, you don’t appear like you should be in Europe, so I’m very excited for it.
“I’m a fast and skilful defender, and you don’t see that in the world. I’m used to playing outside midfielder when I played in the US and I played as a forward sometimes when I was in China, so I can play everywhere and I’m going to bring it here, but I want to be the best defender as I can be for Arsenal.
“I have to keep the ball, that’s my style of being a defender, I just don’t kick the ball up the field. I want to keep the ball and build up and help the team as much as I can. I’m Brazilian and I have Brazilian blood in myself, so I like to play that style and I’m very glad and happy to be here.”
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