Our new midfielder was over the moon to become our first signing of the summer and spoke about how it felt to arrive at Arsenal in her first club interview.

“It feels really surreal actually,” she said. “It's been a long time in the works, so it's weird to be here and actually happening and seeing my shirt for the first time. It's an unbelievable feeling, I'm so proud. 

“Straight away I feel the family feeling. Everybody that I've met today is so warm and so welcoming and I feel like that is the club culture and making sure that everybody's comfortable and has the opportunity to be free and to play free and that's exactly what you see on the pitch. 

“I’m excited to get going. I want to create big things with this club and I'm excited to see what the future holds. 

“When I found out that Arsenal wanted to sign me it was a really proud feeling. Arsenal wanted me when I wasn't available and that makes me feel even more proud because of course it's nice that somebody wants you but it's nice when somebody wants you when you're also not available at the same time. 

“It's a massive club. Where they're taking the women's game is to new levels and new heights and I just wanted to be a part of that. I've been out of the WSL for a few years now and there's something that always drew me to home and those English fans are like no other and I wanted to be able to feel that.”

It’s not just English fans who have taken a liking to Stanway and her achievements with the Lionesses, but the English royal family as well, who recently awarded her with a Member of the Order of the British Empire from King Charles III.

“That was also a very surreal day,” she reflected. “Just a little girl from Barrow that sat there thinking, ‘why am I in here? How did I end up in this situation?’ But it was a massive day to be able to celebrate with my family and have them along with me as well. A proud feeling and proud to be putting women's football on the map.”

After four successful years overseas at Bayern Munich, in which Stanway was part of a team that scooped four consecutive Frauen-Bundesliga titles, two DFB-Pokal trophies and two DFB-Supercups, not to mention an individual 2022/23 Fans’ Player of the Season award, she is full of pride.

“My time at Bayern was unbelievable to be honest,” she explained. “I had four amazing years. I don't have a bad thing to say about Bayern. I absolutely loved every minute that I spent there, both at the club and in the city. Both of them kind of really worked out well together.

“I think I wanted to get to a point where I wanted to leave that having good memories. I never wanted to get to the point where I've had enough there or things were getting a little bit comfortable. 

“It was time to take another challenge and this is what Arsenal is. It's another challenge for me. It's an opportunity to better myself as a player and as a person. Here feels like the right place to be able to do that.”

Stanway is no stranger to certain members of our contingent already, as we dug up a photo of England under-17s from a decade ago, displaying her between Alessia Russo and Lotte Wubben-Moy.

“[Knowing them], it was a massive factor,” she said. “I was having conversations on the sly, making sure that they obviously were telling me all the good things, which is obviously important. I've played with probably a lot of the girls since very young. I know Alessia, Taylor [Hinds] and Lotte from probably age 13, 14 years old. And they've always had positive things to say about Arsenal.

“Obviously, I'm really close with Leah, you guys know that, and my decision was easy when they all had good things to say about it. But I also could have made that decision without their input.”

So how much is Stanway looking forward to playing in front of tens of thousands of supporters at Emirates Stadium, and what are her hopes for the future at Arsenal?

“I’m massively looking forward to playing at the Emirates,” she said. “I’ve played there once before and it wasn't really a result that I want to be remembered [when we beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in 2023], so it's important to be able to put that right. To play in front of the Arsenal fans is going to be unbelievable. I've missed the feeling of walking out to English fans, to football-loving fans, just to have that feeling of pride. 

“I’m hoping to be a piece of history. I enjoy my football, but I also enjoy creating a legacy off the pitch. That could be inspiring the next generation. It could be making sure that I'm having an input within the community, and I know that's what Arsenal stands for, is making sure that they're more than just a football club. 

“On pitch, I would love to lift trophies. That's something that, when you've done it a few times, you enjoy that feeling and you want to be able to do it again. I would love to do it here for this club. But, first and foremost, I just want to hit the ground running and make sure that I can get some consistency in my performance as early as possible, and I can enjoy wearing the badge.”