Lia Walti felt welcome from the first time she walked into London Colney.
The Switzerland international became our latest recruit when she joined us from Turbine Potsdam this week, and says that it was an easy decision to move to north London.
“It feels unreal at the moment and I’m just happy to be here, to start a new chapter in my career with other team-mates, another team, in another league and another language. I’m really looking forward to the next two years,” she told Arsenal Player.
“When I came here in January to watch everything, I just felt welcome. They showed my everything and it was so professional. I’ve never seen it before and I just felt welcomed from the first second. That was the point in my heart where I said, ‘Yes, it’s the right time to come here and spend the next two years here at a club like Arsenal’.
“I play in central midfield normally but I can play as a centre defender too,” Walti added. “I think my strengths are my calmness in a game, to keep the game calm, to give good passes and not lose the ball.
“I’m a player who tries to take responsibility for the whole team in the game and take decisions. I’m just looking forward to it. If I can do the same things here in this team… First of all I’m just excited to meet all the players here, to play with them and then we can see how I will play here and if it’s the same style I played before, or if I can change something.
“When I was 20 I got named Turbine captain and it was maybe a little bit too early for me, but I grew in this position and I learned to take decisions on the pitch and off the pitch, to talk with the team and the coach, to be the one who tried to be positive at all times even if we lost or had bad days. I think it was a good experience for me because I grew and I hope I can bring that here to this team too.”
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