Danielle van de Donk has signed a new long-term contract with the club. The Netherlands international has made 81 appearances in an Arsenal shirt since joining us in November 2015 from Swedish side Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC.
Since her arrival, Danielle has scored 28 goals for us, and helped us to win the 2016 FA Women’s Cup and the 2017 FA WSL Continental Cup. Danielle is an experienced player at international level and was part of the Dutch squad that went to the 2015 World Cup in Canada, and more recently played a key part in the Netherlands winning the 2017 UEFA Women’s Championship.
The Netherlands international has displayed her usual qualities this season, dictating play and dancing around defenders, but under our head coach’s guidance, she’s enjoyed her most prolific season to date. Van de Donk’s scored 12 goals in just 22 starts across all competitions, and has assisted six times. Only Vivianne Miedema (29) has scored more goals for us this season.
Arsenal.com spoke to Van de Donk after signing her contract – and this is what she said.
on the key factors behind signing…
“First of all it was the team. I really like the team and I think it’s just going to get better. Also our manager Joe is amazing and I learn a lot from him.”
on whether we’re building towards something special…
“I think that’s just Arsenal. We want to win prizes and I think we’ve got something good going on. We just need to continue it.”
on whether she’s become a more complete player under Montemurro…
“Yeah, I’ve become more of an inside the box player! I haven’t really scored outside the box but I think I’ve got a bit more complete. There’s a lot of work to do yet, but he’s definitely helping me to get better.”
on what she’s hoping to achieve with the club…
“To just win prizes, that’s basically it. I don’t care about anything else. I just want to get better, win prizes and be at the top.”
Under the guidance of Joe Montemurro, Danielle has managed to score 12 goals in 22 starts this season, in addition to assisting six times.
“We are absolutely delighted that Danielle has committed her future with us,” said Montemurro. “She is a very talented and skilful player, a player that you wouldn’t want to play against yourself. She brings a world class attitude and quality that are vital to our team.”
“I really like the team and our manager Joe is amazing and I learn a lot from him,” said Danielle. “We want to win prizes and I think we’ve got something good going on here.”
SOURCE: Arsenal official website
