Renée Slegers and Mariona Caldentey spoke to The Gooner Fanzine this afternoon ahead of Arsenal Women’s UWCL first-leg semi-final against Lyon tomorrow (Saturday).

Slegers spoke about Jessie Gale and the benefits of her being around the squad:

“She comes and trains with us once or twice a week… she’s progressing really well, but she won’t be in tomorrow’s squad.”

The Arsenal head coach went on to describe the impact that training regularly with the first team has on young players’ development.

“Any training session with us, it’s a learning for these young players because I think we’re training on such a high level. They get to train with players like Mariona, so there’s so much learning.”

Slegers finished by explaining how just being around Arsenal’s experienced players is beneficial for the academy talents and preparing them for the future.

“Everything [they] do from coming in in the morning, until the meetings and gym and all that, and all that in the afternoon. So, it’s also good for these younger players to get used to the routines of an Arsenal player.”