Arsenal captain Kim Little extended her Arsenal contract by one year this week. The 35-year-old, who has made over 400 appearances for the club, will remain in North London for at least one more year and Gunners boss Renee Slegers says Little remains one of the team’s most important players.
‘I think you see her quality on the pitch. She makes things work. If you look at it statistically and certain metrics, I don’t think it always shows which qualities players bring. So I think there’s a lot of work that Kim does. They’re under the radar, even though her metrics look very good, of course.
‘But she does a lot of things that you almost can’t measure. How she helps the team, how she keeps the decision short as she connects, as she covers spaces and comes up for others to be able to play their role. So there’s a lot, there’s a lot about Kim and her game and the way she contributes and helps us.
‘And then, of course, her leadership and who shares off the pitch, she is 100% always in everything she does. She is consistent with everything she does. And she’s just with who she is and how she does things, she’s such a rock for the team.’
Arseblog News asked Slegers how much convincing Little needed to continue her highly decorated career. ‘Me personally, I am not in those conversations, so that’s all managed through Claire (Wheatley) and Jodie (Taylor).
‘But I think there’s a very deep respect, both ends from club to Kim and from Kim to club. I just feel very privileged to work with Kim. We are creating something and Kim is a big part of it and I know she’s been around for a long time, so she’s been so loyal to the club for so long.
‘She’s been so consistent for so long, so I highly respect Kim. I think what we do at the moment is a lot of collaboration with the with the captain’s group. I highly value that. So she’s such an important part of what we’re building.’