The Manchester United fans couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing. There were double-takes all around, but it was happening: the Arsenal away supporters bounced and sang: “Here we goooo, Lotte and Lessi Russo!” The song United fans had sung to the tune of Rockin’ All Over the World for two of their favourites – diehard United supporters Ella Toone and Alessia Russo – was being sung by one of their biggest rivals. “How dare theys” were etched across faces in the crowd. Now, it is the Arsenal duo Lotte Wubben-Moy and Russo whose names are in the song, a playful teasing of United fans, after the Gunners’ recruitment of Russo in the summer on the expiry of her contract.
“I didn’t even know that,” says Russo, a half-sheepish, half-embarrassed smile on her face. Sitting in a red leather chair at Arsenal’s training ground before their top-of-the-table clash against Chelsea, with more than 57,000 tickets sold for the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, she adds: “When you’re in the game, you don’t really feel the banter between fans as much.”
The move to Arsenal was controversial, the Gunners reportedly having two record bids for the England forward turned down in January as United decided they were prepared to let her leave for free in the summer rather than strengthen a rival as they vied for the title and Champions League qualification.
Russo had to separate the personal and professional when deciding what was best for her career. There was no room for sentiment. “It was hard,” says the 24-year-old, who wears the No 23 shirt in tribute to Michael Jordan, who played basketball at the same college in the US that Russo went to, the University of North Carolina. “You have a lot of tough moments and there’s a lot that people don’t see that you go through as a player. I’ve been a Man United fan ever since I can remember. I still have a lot of admiration for the club and follow them massively. But it’s football. Time moves so quickly; you just have to throw yourself in the moment.”
At United, Russo was adored, settled and important. “I felt so comfortable. I’ve got some of my best friends in Manchester. I know I’ve still got them as friends for life, which is great. But people go through it all the time: you have to step out of your comfort zone. That’s what I had to do to make the next step. Football moves quickly and within the blink of an eye you find yourself somewhere else. That can be tough. But you are forced to settle in quickly, and things move so fast that you don’t even have too much time to think about it.”
There was lots of interest in the out-of-contract Russo, but Arsenal had shown they really wanted her. The decision to move to north London came down to the way she felt about the people and place. “I’m a big people person,” she says. “I always feel like if you’re in the right place and you feel like you’ve got the right people around you, then the sky’s the limit. That’s kind of how I feel here. The people are special and that was the most important thing for me. You get a feeling, you get almost a gut feeling when you speak to people and have those conversations and you just kind of have to roll with it.
“The way that they elevate the women’s game and the work they put into the women’s team is massive. It’s a special club – you can feel it as soon as you walk through the door.”
The addition of Kelly Smith to Arsenal’s staff was another attraction. “She’s been one of my idols since I was a little girl,” she says. “She’s just really detailed. She won’t overload you with information but it’ll be like two or three key details.”
Russo’s talk of things moving fast is pertinent, because she was unveiled as an Arsenal player days out from travelling to Australia with England for the World Cup and had only 17 days between losing to Spain in the final – something that “really hurt, still does and will for many years” – and the first game of an unsuccessful Champions League qualifying campaign. Fortunately, she had time before the World Cup to handle the logistics of the move.
“Change is hard but sometimes it’s good too,” she says. “So, I’ve got a new place, nearer family, which is nice. I luckily just went and viewed one apartment and loved it, and the landlord was choosing between me and a couple and he was like: ‘I’ll give you a few days.’ That was the day before my signing and I got the keys just after the World Cup. So, it all fell really, really smoothly, which isn’t normally the case.”
Russo has excelled for Arsenal but, with two league goals, there have been rumblings in some quarters about a lack of scoring. This talk confused those who have watched Russo, who has been used a little deeper, as the No 10 at times, and is so effective at holding up the ball and bringing others into play. In addition, building instinctive relationships takes time.
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop building as a player,” she says. “When you join a new team you have to learn new players and new styles and things like that but I think it’s been good. We’ve had a lot of time now and you slowly start to feel more and more at ease, just picking up what players like to do, what are their habits and how I can help them and how they can help me.”
Moments before we sat down, I had asked Jonas Eidevall about Russo and he described her as “probably the best finisher I’ve ever worked with”, saying it was up to the team to put her in the position where she can score. Coming from a manager with the WSL’s and Netherlands’ record goalscorer, Vivianne Miedema, and the Euro 22 golden boot winner, Beth Mead, in his ranks, it’s a bold statement.
Russo laughs when told what he said. “That’s nice to hear,” she says. “But we’re working hard as a whole team.”
On whether she could score more, she is reflective. “The older I get the more I realise that there’s so many little things that you can do to help the team throughout the course of a game and a season. Obviously, you want to score – I would be lying if I said I didn’t. But there’s lots to learn and lots that I feel like I’m learning, looking at finer details of things like movements in the box, how I can create half a yard better. Little things that maybe aren’t obvious to the wider world, but when you’re in it you can pin down details.”
Russo’s efforts across the pitch were highlighted in Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat of Brighton, when time almost stood still as she slid in to deny Katie Robinson, filling in at right-back. “In that game, I was the 10. So, it was a bit of a deeper role. I just thought: ‘I’ve got to go here.’ Play has happened so quickly and you just kind of have to fill in for each other.”
Some of the relationships are already there. Having her England teammates Wubben-Moy, Mead and Leah Williamson at Arsenal has helped Russo to settle on and off the pitch. Russo played with Wubben-Moy at the University of North Carolina, where she was somewhat forced into a love of country music by its sheer dominance. “I always say that Lotte has been my big sister ever since I can remember. And I think anyone that knows Lotte knows that she’s got a very wise head on her shoulders. We’ve been through a lot together. She’s one of my ride or dies. She helped me a lot through college, which is a time where you’re vulnerable. You’re 18, you move to the other side of the world. But yeah, she’s always a shoulder to lean on.”
One of the special things about football is the people you meet. Toone, who she talks to daily, and Wubben-Moy are chalk and cheese personality-wise, yet they are two of Russo’s closest friends. “You make friends with people in football that maybe you wouldn’t have crossed paths with in school or in normal life. It’s so cool to have relationships with different kinds of people. Tooney’s like my little sister and Lotte’s a big sister. I’m glad that I can kind of experience the highs and lows of football with them.”
Being there when Mead came back from the low of her ACL injury was particularly poignant for Russo. Mead came on and assisted Russo’s first WSL goal for Arsenal – a late winner against Aston Villa. “What she’s been through has been so tough, but to see her back and feeling good again is nice,” Russo says. “She’s a player that you always want to play with. You want to be in the box for her crosses, because she can put them on an absolute dime.
“When she came on I got goose bumps. We were in the game, so obviously focused on the game, but the reception that she got was just incredible. Everyone in the stadium could feel it. It’s a bit emotional to look back at it.”
The crowds at Arsenal have been another highlight, with constant chanting and record-breaking numbers home and away. “Even at Boreham Wood you just feel them and hear non-stop singing. The chants are great. We often play Voulez-Vous in the changing room and sing Cloé Lacasse’s song.”
The intensity of the interest in players as the game grows is new and has its problems. “One of the best moments for me after a game is seeing everyone when we do our little lap or go out and have a bit of contact with them. You see little boys, little girls, with signs for players. It’s so hard for us because we want to give back to so many fans and do all we can, but the level of the game right now makes it harder for us to have that connection with them.
“In the past couple of years the fanbase has exploded, which is incredible, and exactly what you want for women’s football. I think 10-15 years ago, when I was a little girl, I would have been at the games dying to get a picture with Kelly or Rachel Yankey. So now to be in the position I am makes you a little bit more grateful and we want to devote as much time to them as possible.”
