Katie Reid’s recent ACL tear is, it goes without saying, terrible for the player herself and suboptimal for Arsenal. Reid, who only turned 19 in October, wrestled her way into the starting line-up ahead of internationals like Lotte Wubben-Moy and Laia Codina in the opening weeks of the season. She even earned a call up to the England team, benefitting from Leah Williamson’s injury enforced absence at club and international level.
There is never a good time to get an ACL injury but this timing feels especially cruel for Reid, as it was for Michelle Agyemang a few weeks before her. From an Arsenal perspective, I don’t believe Reid’s injury should alter their plans in January whatsoever, just as Leah Williamson’s injury did not.
Reid’s ascension means the Gunners came into the season with five senior centre-halves. Reid’s injury leaves Williamson, who is soon to return from a knee injury, Wubben-Moy, Catley and Codina. There is a slight wrinkle with Catley set to go to the Asia Cup in March but even going through a few weeks with three senior centre-halves is disaster.
That is what squads are for, you can’t be fully stocked for every single minute of the season, you will get injuries and absences from time to time. Ordinarily a team would go into a campaign with four centre-halves and consider that about right. Now, I realise that many Arsenal fans feel the 2023 departure of Rafaelle has never truly been amended.
In some respects I understand and agree, though I think Steph Catley’s performances as a left centre-half over the last 12 months have been excellent. I think we struggle to accept Catley’s competence because a) she was a left-back for so long that, subconsciously, I think many fans still consider this to be a short-term fix and b) because she turns 32 in January and therefore, we know this isn’t a totally long-term solution.
Personally I identify with point B far more than point A. The reason I don’t think Reid’s injury should change anything in January is because Arsenal do not need a ‘depth’ signing at centre-back, they have plenty of depth. The next centre-half signing should be the absolute bona fide long-term left centre-half and that means that Reid’s injury should be irrelevant to the club’s transfer plans.
Arsenal have made too many ‘depth’ signings or signed players for the sake of numbers in recent years. Simone Boye was signed in the summer of 2021 because Arsenal had to wait for January before they could secure Rafaelle. Kaylan Marckese was signed in the summer of 2022 because Arsenal had to wait for January 2023 before they could secure Sabrina D’Angelo.
When Rafaelle left the club in the summer of 2023, I believe Jonas Eidevall’s first choice replacement was Bayern centre-half Glódís Viggósdóttir but the German club would not entertain a sale, so Arsenal moved on to Barcelona’s Laia Codina. I think Codina is a good defender (she started and won the World Cup Final in 2023 after all) but I just don’t think she has a complementary centre-half partner in the Arsenal squad and she has become something of a utility player as a result.
It seems unlikely that Codina has a long-term future at the club unless something significant changes. She was not called up to the most recent Spain squad due to a lack of playing time. Arsenal also signed Amanda Ilestedt in the summer of 2023 as a short-term plug and play replacement for Leah Williamson, who had just ruptured her ACL. It made sense as a signing, Ilestedt was 30 and had played under Jonas Eidevall before and could slot straight in until Williamson returned to fitness.
However, I think Arsenal must avoid another Boye, Ilestedt or Codina style signing, all of whom became ‘depth’ signings. Even the signing of Kyra Cooney-Cross feels muddled in retrospect, the Gunners had wanted Keira Walsh from Barcelona that summer and pivoted to Cooney-Cross later in the window. Over two years after on, we aren’t any clearer on Kyra’s role in this team.
Arsenal is a late prime squad now, the average age of the starting line-up this season has been 28.2 and that is with Reid bringing the average down. Many senior contracts expire in 2026 and the next tranche of signings should be players that define the next phase and the evolution of this squad.
To my mind, that means no more short-term or filler signings and I think it means that Arsenal have to be strategic and precise with their recruitment, so that ought to rule out panicking into a short-term cover signing for Williamson. Wubben-Moy has a new contract and is in the leadership group, she is part of the plans. Reid is a future star. Williamson is one of the best centre-halves in the world.
Arsenal’s only thought at centre-half should be who succeeds Catley. Left centre-half is one of the most difficult positions to recruit in women’s football. Chelsea tried Kadeisha Buchanan there with little success and have since signed Bjorn and Girma. At the Emirates last weekend, Millie Bright played at left centre-half. The defending WSL champions are having a hard time filling that left centre-half slot. (I am not suggesting that to be any kind of crisis, they have coped well enough while trying to work it out!)
It is interesting that Manchester City, with Alex Greenwood and Arsenal with Steph Catley have repurposed left-backs into the position. Manchester United initially signed Dominique Janssen to play in midfield but have since moved her to left centre-half.
It’s a very unicorn position in women’s football and it is really difficult to recruit but Arsenal are going to have to press that button soon- but they also have to get it right. In short, I think Katie Reid’s injury is an irrelevance to this equation and if Arsenal have to wait for the summer for their unicorn, they should.