Getting to Know Alessia Russo: The Journey Behind Arsenal’s Number 23

When I sat down to read Suzy Wrack’s interview with Alessia Russo in The Guardian this week, one thing kept coming back to me. It wasn’t a particular quote or a headline designed to grab attention. It was simply the impression that Alessia has grown into somebody who seems completely at home in an Arsenal shirt.

Sometimes, as supporters, we only ever meet players at the point they become famous. We know the goals. We know the trophies. We know the celebrations. We know the highlights that get replayed over and over again on social media. What we often don’t know is everything that happened before those moments. We don’t know the years of work, the difficult decisions, the setbacks and the people who helped shape the footballer standing in front of us today.

That’s one of the reasons I’ve loved doing these player profiles here on Trailblazers, because I know there are listeners and readers discovering Arsenal Women every single week. Some of you have followed this team for decades. Others only came across after England won the European Championship or Arsenal lifted the Champions League. Some of you are parents introducing your children to women’s football for the very first time. If that’s you, then I want these profiles to help you get to know the players not simply as footballers, but as people.

And Alessia Russo has one of the most interesting journeys of them all.

Alessia grew up in Maidstone, Kent, in a family where football was simply part of everyday life. Her father, Mario, had played non-league football, while her brothers also spent their childhood immersed in the game. Listening to stories about her upbringing, you quickly realise football wasn’t something Alessia chose one afternoon because she fancied trying a new hobby. It was woven into family life. It was what happened after school, at weekends and whenever there happened to be a ball nearby. Like so many elite footballers, she fell in love with the game long before she ever imagined making a career from it.

Her talent quickly became obvious. After beginning her journey with Charlton Athletic, she moved into Chelsea’s academy, where she continued developing into one of the country’s brightest young forwards. Even then, though, what stood out wasn’t simply her ability to score goals. She had a maturity to her game that coaches loved. She could receive the ball with her back to goal, bring teammates into play, occupy defenders and create space for others, all while carrying a genuine goal threat herself. They’re qualities we admire every week at Arsenal now, but they’ve been part of Alessia’s game for much longer than many people realise.

One of the defining moments of her career came when she made a decision that wasn’t particularly fashionable at the time. Rather than staying in England, Alessia accepted a scholarship to the University of North Carolina in the United States. It might not have generated huge headlines, but looking back it feels like one of the smartest decisions she could have made. Living abroad, balancing elite sport with education and experiencing a completely different football culture helped her develop in ways that extended far beyond the pitch. Sometimes the biggest periods of growth happen when you’re pushed outside your comfort zone, and I think that’s exactly what those years gave her.

Returning to England, Alessia signed for Manchester United, and this is where most supporters first became properly aware of her. Season after season she developed into one of the Women’s Super League’s most complete centre-forwards. Yes, she scored goals, but what impressed me just as much was everything else she brought to the team. Watch Alessia carefully and you’ll notice how often she creates space for others simply through intelligent movement. You’ll notice how calm she remains under pressure and how willing she is to do the less glamorous work that allows those around her to flourish. Great centre-forwards don’t simply finish chances. They improve everyone around them, and Alessia has become exceptionally good at doing exactly that.

Of course, for millions of people, the moment that truly announced her arrival came during UEFA Women’s Euro 2022. There are football moments that become part of sporting history, and that outrageous backheel against Sweden will forever belong in that category. Every time I watch it back, I still find myself smiling because it was the sort of finish that only happens when instinct completely takes over. Most players wouldn’t even think about attempting it. Alessia didn’t hesitate.

That tournament changed women’s football in this country, and Alessia became one of the faces of a generation that inspired thousands of young girls to pick up a football for the first time. Yet, despite all the attention that followed, she’s always struck me as somebody who has remained remarkably grounded.

When Arsenal announced her signing in the summer of 2023, the expectation was enormous. England’s leading striker arriving at one of Europe’s biggest clubs was always going to attract attention, and with that came pressure. Every goal would be analysed. Every missed opportunity discussed. Every performance compared with what supporters expected from one of the world’s best forwards.

What I’ve admired most over the last two seasons isn’t actually the goals, although there have been plenty of those. It’s the way Alessia has quietly grown into becoming one of the leaders within this Arsenal squad. Reading her interview this week, I was struck by how she spoke about standards, about learning, about responsibility and about what it means to represent Arsenal. There was no sense that she’d arrived and completed the journey. If anything, she spoke like somebody who believes the best is still to come.

I think that’s one of the reasons she’s become such an important figure for this team. Leadership isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s simply about setting standards every single day, demanding more from yourself than anybody else could possibly demand from you and helping those around you improve in the process. Those qualities rarely make the headlines, but they’re often the qualities that separate very good footballers from great ones.

For younger supporters, I think Alessia’s story carries another important message. Success rarely follows a straight line. It involves difficult decisions, like moving halfway across the world to continue developing. It involves patience, resilience and the willingness to keep improving long after everyone else has decided you’ve already made it. Watching Alessia now, it’s easy to focus on the trophies, the goals and the medals. What we shouldn’t forget are all the years that came before them.

As Arsenal supporters, we’re incredibly fortunate to have one of the world’s finest centre-forwards leading our attack. But perhaps more importantly, we have somebody who seems to understand exactly what it means to wear this badge. She’s ambitious without arrogance, confident without complacency and driven by the belief that there is always another level to reach.

If reading this week’s interview reminded me of anything, it’s that Alessia Russo’s story still feels like it’s only just beginning.