Press conference

'We experienced an amazing person at Arsenal'

Tuesday was a sad day for Joe Montemurro.

Our head coach was as disappointed as everyone when Tabea Kemme announced her retirement from football at just 28 years old due to injury.

But although we never got to see her at her best in our famous red and white, Montemurro will always have fond memories of her time here.

"It's really disappointing," he said. "She was an amazing character and an amazing person to have around. Unfortunately we didn't see the best of her as a footballer. It was very, very sad.

"It was just a situation that happened pretty much after we signed her while she was playing in Germany. She got injured playing for Potsdam, we'd signed her and then we just couldn't get her right.

"The most important thing is that we experienced an amazing person at Arsenal. She had an amazing effect on the group and this was something where her health and her ability to be able to do things for the rest of her life just took over. It's more important than football. It's an emotional one which is more important than football.

"She's getting on really well," Montemurro added. "It was a tough one which we pushed as far as we could. The realisation was that the degeneration in the knee was never going to get any better. It was more important that she lived a healthy life for the rest of her life and is able to do what she wants to do. Unfortunately football has to move aside."