Sanderson - Arsenal is in my blood

Lianne Sanderson has revealed she was only ever going to play for one team if she returned to England: Arsenal.

The striker graduated through the Gunners’ youth ranks and represented the first team for five seasons before playing in the United States, Spain and, most recently, Cyprus on her route back to north London.

“I’ve always kept in contact with Arsenal and everybody there like Vic Akers,” Sanderson told Arsenal.com. “Even though I’m a Manchester United fan, which everybody knows, when I play for Arsenal, Arsenal is in my blood.

“I grew up as an Arsenal player and I learnt the Arsenal way from when I was nine years old. It feels nice to be wanted by other teams in Europe and England but I never spoke to anybody else because I wanted to come back to Arsenal.

“I said to my dad a couple of months ago, ‘Dad, I want to go back to Arsenal’. He’s a massive Arsenal fan so that helped but it felt right for me to go to somewhere I knew, somewhere that respected me and somewhere that played a big part in my upbringing.

“They taught me that winning mentality. As soon as you step over that white line you know you’re going to win. That’s not an arrogant thing, I just knew we’d win because we had an absolute dream team during my first spell here.

“It was important because the camaraderie we had off the field was something where we had that respect as well. It was the Arsenal way - we all used to wear the same long-sleeved or short-sleeved shirt.

“It’s those sorts of things that I think have been lost a little bit. Hopefully we can change that and, with me signing, hopefully it sends out a statement that Arsenal are on the way back.”