Arsenal have signed Lia Walti from Turbine Potsdam on a two-year-deal as the women’s team continues to add to its ranks just like the men’s side.

Announced the same day Sokratis arrived at Arsenal, it was easy to lose the Walti signing in amongst the barrage of social media posts that the official Arsenal account put out all evening after the Greek was announced at 5pm.

https://twitter.com/ArsenalWFC/status/1013849537297842181?s=19

Walti was delighted to finally put pen to paper on an Arsenal deal.

https://twitter.com/liawaelti/status/1013801914125910016

She also told the official Arsenal site, “It feels unreal at the moment and I’m just happy to be here, to start a new chapter in my career with other team-mates, another team, in another league and another language. I’m really looking forward to the next two years.

“When I came here in January to watch everything, I just felt welcome. They showed me everything and it was so professional. I’ve never seen it before and I just felt welcomed from the first second. That was the point in my heart where I said, ‘Yes, it’s the right time to come here and spend the next two years here at a club like Arsenal’.

“I play in central midfield normally but I can play as a centre defender too,” Walti added. “I think my strengths are my calmness in a game, to keep the game calm, to give good passes and not lose the ball.
 
“I’m a player who tries to take responsibility for the whole team in the game and take decisions. I’m just looking forward to it. If I can do the same things here in this team… First of all, I’m just excited to meet all the players here, to play with them and then we can see how I will play here and if it’s the same style I played before, or if I can change something.
 
“When I was 20 I got named Turbine captain and it was maybe a little bit too early for me, but I grew in this position and I learned to take decisions on the pitch and off the pitch, to talk with the team and the coach, to be the one who tried to be positive at all times even if we lost or had bad days. I think it was a good experience for me because I grew and I hope I can bring that here to this team too.”

Joe Montemurro said: “Lia is a fantastic midfielder. She will give us another experienced option in that position. Her work-rate is impressive, and her professionalism will shine through.”

It might also be worth noting that while Arsenal say they treat their two teams the same way, @Arsenal tweeted 15 times about Sokratis but not once about Walti. That was left to the @ArsenalWFC account.