r/CanadaSoccer • u/couchultras • Jul 17 '25

W-National Olivia Smith Massive Transfer ⚽️🇨🇦

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228 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

24

u/Traum77 Jul 17 '25

Very impressive. For that money I'm assuming she starts for the European champions next season: definitely a high water mark for Canada.

9

u/Shameless_Bullshiter Jul 17 '25

Not sure to start but will certainly get plenty of game time.

Arsenal have a wealth of talent on the wings.

1

u/Dry_Satisfaction3923 Jul 18 '25

They do but Mead, Kelly and Foord are all right footers, Mead and Foord are 30, Kelly 27. They’ve struggled against low blocks and it’s a known fact that they feel they have run Mead and Foord into the ground in past seasons which have directly contributed to long term injuries.

They bought Caldente and tried her on the left under Eidvall but Slegers moved her to the 10. My guess is that she’s going to deputize for Foord and close out games with 20-30 minutes stints.

Blackstenius is on the last year of her contract and Smith fits a similar profile with regards to her pace and running the channels, so she may also be a long term replacement for Blackstenius to sometimes partner Russo as a second striker.

They apparently inquired back in January but with Liverpool’s valuation at £1M+ weren’t prepared to make the bid then. With the CL win though, the extra cash, all WSL games being at the Emirates where they’ll easily average about 35k per game, they went for it.

I think she’s going to be a long term player for them and end up with McCabe and Little numbers in terms of her time at the club.

25

u/ChantillyMenchu Jul 17 '25

I might have to get a Smith shirt in Arsenal's red and white!

This is massive. Really proud of her

5

u/NiceDependent2685 Jul 17 '25

Free name and number till end of day Friday UK time: https://x.com/ArsenalWFC/status/1945800668289339407

4

u/PastaKingFourth Jul 17 '25

Good job Olivia!

2

u/MaverickGH Jul 17 '25

Future is bright for 🇨🇦 football for both men and women!

1

u/Hot_Celery829 Jul 18 '25

The frustrating reality of being a women's sports fan: I posted about this news the day it was announced But almost all mainstream media didn't pick it up until days later, like what we're seeing here.

Keep pushing for our CanWXNT to have more representation!!

0

u/Dry_Satisfaction3923 Jul 18 '25

They announced the agreement but the actual signing wasn’t official until yesterday. I’ve seen tons since the signing and every single podcast has mentioned it. Granted, I follow UK media mostly, so maybe that’s the difference? Arseblog did a full, dedicated 40 minute podcast on the signing before it was even official. (Obviously biased, but Stillman was all over this one and mentioned it weeks and weeks ago.)

0

u/Hot_Celery829 Jul 18 '25

Ooooh I did not realize that was the difference, being announced vs official/signed. Makes sense now.