Vivianne Miedema wants to become an Arsenal legend but with 84 goals in 88 appearances in her three years at the club, some would argue she has already achieved that.
Vivianne Miedema is still only 24 but the forward seems to smash or set a new record every time she hits the back of the net. 84 goals in 88 games in all competitions and 52 in 51 league games speaks for itself.
Thankfully, it seems she wants to stick around at Arsenal for some time to keep doing that.
“It’s one of the most important things as a player, you want to feel appreciated by the club, valued, and it’s something that in the early years of women’s football was hard to create,” she told the Daily Mirror.
“But now, in terms of where we stand, it’s amazing to have support from Wrighty and Robin.
“To be seen as a part of the club – not just from the club’s side but also from the fans’ perspective – is really nice and you can see it growing and that makes everything really exciting.
“It’s amazing for ex-professionals to be interested in women’s football and we need that way more. Ian’s the prime example of knowing women’s football is rising and I’m pretty sure his daughters and granddaughters are playing a big part in it.
“But it’s amazing to have big legends on board with us. I catch up with him a lot at the moment and it’s nice to have someone to talk to and share your frustrations with as well.
“Lockdown was a difficult time for a lot of people but I really enjoyed it because I’ve become fitter and started to enjoy football more and more. These are all things that I can keep improving upon.
“I was running all the time! We were up in Scotland, we had a couple of people checking if we were spending too much time outside, so we had to make the most of the hour or so. I was with Lisa [Evans, fellow Arsenal teammate and Miedema’s partner] and we could stay fit and play football as well.”
Miedema was born in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, in 1996 and signed for SC Heerenveen at 14. She made her debut at 15 and won top goalscorer in BeNe League for 2013/14 with 41 goals in 26 games.
In September 2013, the then-teenager made her senior debut for the Netherlands against Albania.
She went on to become top scorer at the 2014 UEFA u19 Championship and also collected the Golden Player award.
She became one of his country’s integral players before she was 21.
The forward spent three years at SC Heerenveen, scoring a whopping 78 goals in 69 appearances before moving on to Bayern Munich in June 2014. In 2014/15, Miedema’s Bayern side went unbeaten in the Bundesliga and won their first title since 1976.
She signed for Arsenal in May 2017.
Miedema missed the most recent international break with a hip injury but is fit to play on Sunday against Birmingham.