Arsenal reshape squad after underwhelming season ahead of 2026-27 Women’s Super League

Arsenal have overhauled their squad ahead of the 2026-27 Women’s Super League season after an underwhelming previous campaign, with 11 players departing and seven arriving, the Guardian’s writers tipping them to finish 2nd on average in their preview published on 21 August 2026.

Last season’s disappointments, including failure to build on the Champions League success of 2025 despite winning the inaugural Fifa Champions Cup, prompted the summer rebuild; departures included club legends Beth Mead and Katie McCabe, while Arsenal secured Champions League league-phase qualification through a second-place finish in the WSL and Renée Slegers completed a full pre-season for the first time as manager.

The incoming signings blend experience and youth: Spain full-back Ona Batlle, England midfielder Georgia Stanway, Switzerland midfielder Géraldine Reuteler and German forward Selina Cerci joined the squad, a recruitment drive that also reduced the team’s average age.

Georgia Stanway is singled out by the club as a major addition; the two-time European champion is described as bringing 'steeliness' and, as she recently told the Guardian, is 'ruthless and robust', while having established relationships with several England teammates already at Arsenal.

Mead and McCabe were allowed to leave to Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, a change the club acknowledged during the overhaul; whether those exits will have an impact remains to be seen, according to the preview.

Arsenal’s previous domestic campaigns featured slow starts, with last year’s opening nine matches yielding four draws and one defeat, and the club have fewer scheduling excuses this summer with no major international tournament or Champions League qualifying matches interfering with pre-season preparations.

Statistical analysis underlined Arsenal’s narrow miss on the title: they led Opta’s expected points metric for the WSL in 2025-26 and lost one match all season, but drew six games compared with Manchester City’s one; expected-goal data suggested Arsenal deserved to win three of those drawn fixtures while one draw, against Chelsea, was one they 'probably should have lost', and the head-to-head split with City saw each side claim one victory.

Youth prospects Michelle Agyemang and Katie Reid, aged 20 and 19 respectively, had seasons curtailed by anterior cruciate ligament injuries but are preparing to return after almost a year out; the preview notes their comebacks will need careful management and that they will likely take time to regain top form, while defender Lotte Wubben-Moy said: 'It’s like you’re cooking the most beautiful recipe and then you add the final small ingredients that make the marginal difference, that elevate, and you create something that’s beautiful and that you can relish and enjoy. That’s what we’re in the process of.'

Off the field, Arsenal’s latest accounts for the year ending May 2025 showed revenue rose by £6.5m to £21.5m, average Emirates Stadium attendance for eight games was 29,833 with matchday revenue just under £6m, broadcast revenue increased to more than £2m from £956,000 in 2024, commercial revenue rose from £649,000 to £1.77m, and group income climbed from £9.3m to £11.85m — more than half of overall revenue.

Slegers begins her second full season with heightened expectations and Jodie Taylor, the technical director, voiced the club’s aim plainly: 'I’ll flat out say it: we want to win the league and want to take that next step.' All WSL home games and European knockout ties (subject to qualification) will be played at the Emirates Stadium, while domestic cup fixtures and Champions League league-phase matches will remain at Meadow Park.