Arsenal Women have turned their focus towards Signe Bruun after having a world-record bid rejected for Manchester United forward Alessia Russo. The contract for about £500,000 from Arsenal was the largest offer, but United has reaffirmed that they will not sell the striker for that amount. Russo’s contract expiring at the conclusion of the season puts Marc Skinner’s team at risk of losing the Euro 2022 champion this summer for nothing. Months of contract negotiations between the club and the player have gone by, and United is still interested in keeping her long-term. Now that Russo is free to speak with clubs outside of England about a summer transfer, American clubs have shown interest. When Keira Walsh transferred from Manchester City to Barcelona in September 2022, the then-current world record for a player was somewhere about £400k.
By the end of Deadline Day, Arsenal is still looking to add a forward, and Lyon forward Bruun is still on their radar. On January’s Deadline Day, the forward signed a loan deal with Manchester United and is rumored to be open to a similar transfer to north London. As this is an international move, Arsenal has until midnight to finalize a deal for Bruun, who has made 29 appearances for Denmark.
“On Monday, bids started to come in; on Tuesday, additional bids started to come in; and discussions were going on. Alessia Russo is not up for sale this window, Man United said after turning around,” Anton Toloui said after Signe Bruun was targeted by Arsenal Women. “Man United has made a significant move. Russo’s contract expires in the summer, and Arsenal was aware of this. With Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema both out for the majority, if not the entire season, they wanted her to join the team right away to strengthen it. Arsenal made a significant move, but it’s officially done now. Russo is not for sale, as stated to Arsenal.”
The 27-year-old has 10 WSL games for Arsenal this season, and she still has 18 months left on her contract. According to a new report from Anton Toloui, McCabe will remain at Arsenal for the remainder of this month and Chelsea has no plans to make a second offer before Tuesday at 5 p.m.
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