Lotte Wubben-Moy calls her new Arsenal Women contract ‘inevitable’ and commits to working with Arsenal in the Community | Football News

It was her aunty who first got Lotte Wubben-Moy into Arsenal. Her mum and dad – furniture and fashion designers – had no allegiances, but her aunty was the one who used to take her to games. So did she pick up the phone to ask her opinion about a new deal with the Gunners?

“I didn’t actually because I knew her answer, it was an inevitable one.”

Wubben-Moy signing a new deal was just that it seems – inevitable. As a lifelong Arsenal fan there was nowhere else she wanted to go.

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports’ lead WSL presenter Caroline Barker, Wubben-Moy said: “I’m so excited, the relationship both Jonas [Eidevall, Arsenal head coach] and I have. We want the best for one another, we want to push one another and it’s all underpinned by doing it the Arsenal way, doing it for Arsenal and doing it for the plans that Arsenal have for the future… it’s an extremely exciting moment for me and my family.”

Her first debut for the club came when she was just 16 in 2015. She then went to play college football in the US before her second debut in September 2020. Since then, she’s gone on to become a first-team regular, scoring the club’s first Champions League goal at the Emirates, and securing a place with England.

So what difference does Wubben-Moy see between the young academy graduate pulling on the Arsenal shirt and the now England international?

She explained: “I’m a woman now, I’m competing at the top level for both club and country. It feels like years ago that I was an academy graduate and I guess this contract is a cornerstone to that – a new push towards consistency, towards competing at the top level and being a consistent starter, which is what excites me most about this contract, and being able to push on and push on for these next years, which are an exciting few years.”

Wubben-Moy has spoken in the past about the influence of various coaches on her career and now she’s working under Jonas Eidevall in his first season as Arsenal coach.

“I’m a creative player, he’s given me the opportunity to showcase that week in, week out, to do it in important games, to do it against the likes of Wolfsburg in the Champions League quarter-final,” she said.

“What better opportunity is there to do that and the most important thing of all of that is doing it with team-mates that believe in me, that are confident in me and my abilities.

“It’s exciting and leading into the Euros this summer, what a great opportunity to continue to showcase the best of women’s football and hopefully do that with wonderful women by my side.”

Domestically, this season has seen the Gunners top the Women’s Super League, before being overtaken by defending champions Chelsea. They are still very much locked in the race for the title should Emma Hayes’ side drop points, but disappointingly they are out of the Champions League and the FA Cup.

Wubben-Moy reflected: “We came into this season able to compete in all of those top competitions, the Champions League, the League Cup, the FA Cup and the league…With three weeks to go and having only the league to compete for, we are going to take every game as it comes and live in the moment.

“We are obviously extremely disappointed to have been knocked out by Chelsea in the FA Cup but I don’t think that is a defining moment for our season because there have been many moments where we have shown amazing resilience, we have shown a quality and we’ve got a lot of talent in the team.

“So albeit that is a disappointing moment, we will look at that day, we will look at that game, we will reflect upon it and we will learn from it and move on. We’ve got an important end to the season coming up, an exciting summer coming up too, we’ve got to live in the moment.”

Living in the moment seems to be where Wubben-Moy excels, but she acknowledges where she has come from and now she wants to pay back. As part of her new deal, she’s committed to working closely with Arsenal in the Community over the coming years to give back to the local area where she grew up.

“I’m smiling because it makes me really excited… I’ve joined forces with Arsenal in the Community, I’ll be giving my time and energy to building a program which will run for the course of my contract. It will be a program that serves young girls and young women in Islington, Hackney and Camden and will serve them in a way that provides a 12-week programme.

“Get down to the Emirates and learn to open their minds, build upon their communication skills, their confidence but do it in a way that looks at the little things in life that a lot of people disregard and cast aside because I guess these little things are what can help make a difference.”

Making a difference is something Wubben-Moy is used to. She joined the Common Goal programme last year, pledging 1 per cent of her earnings towards social change and sees this new community part of her contract as “a chance for me to give back and take action rather than just speak about things”.

So does she think helping the community should be written in the contracts of all professional footballers?

“That’s a good question. I think it is up to the player. I will encourage people to think about it, players to consider it but I will never say that it should be written into contracts because everyone has their different passions and this is something I’m definitely passionate about,” she said.

“To ask another player to do it would be a question of their authenticity to themselves, whether they want to do it or not. I would say be yourself, follow your story, because this is my story. I’ve come from East London, I was once one of those girls so to be able to give back, that hits harder, that is deep within me and that allows me to give valuable time and energy towards those programmes.

A writer and an artist, Wubben-Moy studied Sports and Exercise Science with a minor in Art History, so what’s next? Does she see her future mirroring that of her Arsenal team-mate Leah Williamson and one day captaining England?

She concluded: “If I do my best, if I am able to continue to take opportunities that I am given, whatever happens, happens. I’m not chasing anything, I’m just pushing on and living in the day, beyond that we’ll see what happens.”

Lotte Wubben-Moy – Arsenal, England and with a message perhaps we could all live by. Live in the moment.