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“It’s a really nice feeling to feel wanted” - Barrow-born Georgia Stanway says new club Arsenal are setting the standard for women’s football.
The England international moved to the Gunners from German giants Bayern Munich when her contract ended at the start of July.
Wasting no time, the midfielder was quick to get “whatever the weather” tattooed on her arm in a nod to the Arsenal anthem “North London Forever”.
The 27-year-old has almost 200 designs across her body and has even learnt how to do them herself with Gunners icon Beth Mead one of her early clients.
Speaking to the BBC’s Women’s Football Weekly podcast, Stanway said: “Arsenal obviously came in and I really like the fact that they came in when I wasn’t available.
“It’s a really nice feeling to feel wanted.”
(Image: Arsenal)
Having grown up in Barrow-in-Furness, she admitted to the BBC that moving to the capital city "will take a little bit of adjusting".
"I'm a bit of a homebody and I'm so used to everything being so local," she said. "I've already said to the girls about places being so far away and they're like, 'It's only an hour'.
"I like little things within the countryside, I like farms, so I don't think I'll be in the city too much!"
She added: “I’m on the right side of London so that I’ve got an easy getaway home.”
The club will hope that Stanway can help build on their recent success of winning the 2024-2025 UEFA Women’s Champions League by bringing home the domestic title.
Arsenal have not won the Women’s Super League (WSL) since the 2018-19 season and finished second to Stanway’s previous club Manchester City last time out.
Despite this, Stanway is hopeful for what is to come: “I like what they’re building within England, within the WSL, within Europe, it’s something that I just want to be a part of. It’s super exciting.”
The North London club are known for having some of the highest attendance figures in the women’s game with the side averaging 34,677 fans last season.
Stanway said: “It’s setting the standards and the levels within women’s football.”
(Image: PA Wire)
The midfielder spent four years at Bayern, scoring 32 goals in 128 appearances for the Munich club.
Stanway said: “It was an unbelievable place, an unbelievable club, an unbelievable city. From an emotional perspective, I have a lot of heart in Munich.”
She added: “All I can say is that every single day I went in, I loved it.”
Stanway is part of a wider changeover at the Gunners with long time servant Mead among those to depart as seven new signings have come the other way.
She said that moving to a new team in a different country has made her more open to helping others settle in, especially young players like new signing Lisa Baum.
Stanway said: “In the past I'd have just continued with my day and kept myself to myself whereas the fact that I've experienced being a new player in a different team I also understand how daunting it is and that an arm around the shoulder goes a long way.”
Arsenal’s first game of the WSL season will be away to Brighton & Hove Albion on September 6 and Stanway can’t wait to get started.
She said: “From the outside everybody wants to be a part of Arsenal and everybody wants to see what they’re about to create and I have the honour and the pride to be able to say that I’m going to be a part of that.”