Stina Blackstenius exclusive: Sweden striker ‘ready for new challenge’ at Arsenal Women after joining this month | Football News

Stina Blackstenius was one of the most sought-after transfer targets of the January window, but having signed for Arsenal, the Sweden striker is mainly focused on being “a better player”.

“I just went for it,” Blackstenius tells Lynsey Hooper in an interview for Sky Sports, addressing her decision to move to the Women’s Super League.

Having let her contract expire at Swedish club Hacken, she picked Arsenal from one of many suitors. “I get a really good impression from Arsenal as a club and everything just felt good when I took the decision,” she said.

“The WSL is one of the most attractive leagues right now because it is a really competitive league to be in.

“I was out playing in France a couple of years ago [Blackstenius spent two seasons at Montpelier before returning to Sweden] but then I felt maybe I wasn’t ready to take that step.

“But now having been [back to] Sweden, I thought I was ready for a new challenge now.”

Blackstenius joins a number of fellow Swedish players in the WSL, including Magdalena Eriksson at Chelsea and Hanna Bennison at Everton, but she did not turn to them for advice when it came to taking the next step. “I have heard so much good stuff about the league and the teams here in England, I felt like I didn’t need any!” she says.

While there are not any other Swedish players at Arsenal, Blackstenius has at least one familiar face in the dressing room.

“I know Frida Maanum from when we played in Linkopings,” she explains, with the two crossing over during Blackstenius’ second spell at the club, having previously won the Damallsvenskan with them back in 2016.

“She can speak Swedish so I was talking to her a bit on my first day.

“I got good first impressions from everyone. There’s a lot of good girls in the group and I feel well taken care of.”

Of course, manager Jonas Eidevall is Swedish too.

Blackstenius said: “He knows that I want to fight for trophies and that I want to keep winning stuff. And I know that he’s a coach who wants the same.

“I feel like the mentality in the group is that we are here because we want to be better players, and we want to win stuff. We want to go as far as we can in the Champions League and also in the league. I feel like that’s just something we do here.”

Part of that fight will also be a fight to start in the side. Arsenal boast a wealth of attacking talents, none more so than all-time WSL top-scorer Vivianne Miedema. But Blackstenius says she was given no assurances over game time and is instead looking forward to competing for a spot in the Arsenal front line.

“There’s so many good players here and there’s high quality across the whole team,” she said. “So I know it will be tough for me to play but I wanted to take that challenge, to try and be better and be as competitive as I can.

“The football way [here] will be different. I have already seen in training that the quality is really high, and that it will be a challenge for me to try and adapt to this as best as I can.

“Of course I hope that [Miedema and I] can play together, but I can’t actually answer that question! I would need to pass it to Jonas.

“But it will be really fun to play alongside such a good player as Viv. She has shown for a long time what a player she is and what quality she has. So that would be a good opportunity for me to grow as a player.”

It is noticeable how much Blackstenius talks about her own desire to improve as she takes this next step in her career.

“I think every player wants to be better,” she said. “And when it is competitive, you really need to make the best you can out of every training and every game. For the players and the team.”

While she is focused on showing her best on the pitch, she is also settling off the pitch too.

“I’ve had so much help from everyone at the club and the girls in the team,” she said. “It means a lot that I can call someone or ask someone for help because I’m new here and I don’t know exactly how things work. But it makes everything easier that I can speak English, which I couldn’t when I was in France.

“I have never been to London before so I think I will just enjoy seeing everything! I have heard there are so many nice things to do here.”

For now though, Blackstenius and Arsenal’s attention turns to Sunday night’s match against Manchester City in the WSL, live on Sky Sports. Having made her debut during Arsenal’s Continental Cup exit to Manchester United, Blackstenius is looking forward to getting an opportunity in the league too.

She said: “It was nice to get the debut the other day, even though we didn’t win. I’m so happy for my first minutes in my new jersey. I’m looking forward to making my league debut too.

“I’m just so happy to be here. I’m looking forward to all the games, and to meet the fans, and everything around them.”

Watch Manchester City vs Arsenal Women live on Sky Sports Football from 6.30pm on Sunday; kick-off 6.45pm