Arsenal Women sign Spain W/Cup winner Laia Codina
Barcelona Femeni and Spain World Cup-winning defender Laia Codina has joined Arsenal Women.
The 23-year-old centre-back completes a permanent move to London Colney shortly after helping Spain win the tournament in Australia, where she started four games including their 1-0 final victory over England on August 20.
That gold medal added to a superb year domestically for Codina and Barcelona, who together lifted the Women’s Champions League at the end of last season and won Liga F, the Spanish top flight, dropping only five points across 30 league games.
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Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall said: “Laia is a world-class defender and I’m delighted to be working with her here at Arsenal. She has a great mix of technical ability and physical presence and we believe this will allow her to adapt to our style here quickly.
“She has considerable experience of playing at the highest level and winning trophies, so I’m confident that she will be an excellent addition to our squad moving forward.”
Codina is one of 81 players, including the entire World Cup-winning squad, currently refusing to play for Spain until under-fire Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales leaves his post.
The Catalonia-born defender joined Barcelona as a 14-year-old and rose through the academy ranks, making her debut in 2019 and going on to make 36 appearances for the club. She also spent the 2021/22 season on loan with AC Milan, where she played a further 19 times.
Arsenal have confirmed Codina will wear the No 27 shirt at the club. She becomes their fourth summer signing, following fellow centre-back Amanda Ilestedt from PSG, Alessia Russo from Man Utd and Cloe Lacasse from Benfica.
Twenty of England’s 23-player World Cup squad compete in the Women’s Super League, with 15 at top-four clubs Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.
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The WSL starts on Sunday October 1 with six matches, including reigning champions Chelsea vs Tottenham
Some WSL sides have already begun their pre-season training, with England players expected to return to their respective squads in the next couple of weeks, before then regrouping for the Nations League.
After the Lionesses’ European Championship win last year there were record-breaking tickets sales across the WSL, with many hoping this summer’s World Cup campaign will bring even more eyes to the league.