Arsenal recently announced that they had managed to retain two players, with high potential aged 19 and 20,

It was a great news and welcomed with relief as they could have gone anywhere as they were out of contract since November.

As WSL contracts expire in November, Carla Humphrey and Chloe Kelly have been free to move for nearly four months. They went on tour and played some friendlies, all without being contracted to Arsenal. Of course, it could be the same case as we see with the men’s team – players signing contracts only for them to be announced months later.

It is interesting to note that both players went on loan last season in order to gain playing time and develop, rather than stay on the bench with the first team. You certainly wonder if they were tempted to make that move permanent. Considering the competition for places at Arsenal, the pair must have been given assurances that they will get a chance, during the Spring series at least.

Both players have also been given new squad numbers with Chloe getting number 7, formerly owned by Natalia Sanchon. Kelly also announced that she is now playing as winger during an instagram live session while in Spain.

Carla was given the number 11, taking over from the legend, Rachel Yankey.

Those number changes are a clear indication that the club will on the two women.

Loyalty to the club  s certainly a quality that Humphrey possesses, as she is an Arsenal fan and comes from a gGooner family. She has come through all age groups at Arsenal and loves the club, something she reiterated on twitter :

Chloe also tweeted her joy at extending her stay at the club

https://twitter.com/Chloe_Kelly98/status/836205083738112001

Hopefully both ladies will get enough playing time to showcase their skills, but they have strong competition with Heather O’Reilly in front of Chloe on right side of the attack and Kim Little ahead of Carla in the number 10 position.