ZestW

England striker Alessia Russo will leave Manchester United this summer after turning down multiple offers of a new contract from the Women’s Super League side.

The 24-year-old’s future at the club had been in doubt throughout the 2022-23 season as she was in the final year of her contract after starring for the Lionesses at last summer’s Euros, and Manchester United rejected a world-record transfer fee from Arsenal on deadline day at the end of the January transfer window, but she will now leave on a free transfer.

It is understood that Manchester United made Russo an offer that would have made her the highest-paid player in their women’s team’s history, but sources close to the England player feel that came too late in the season, and she is now believed to be in discussions with Arsenal and multiple American NWSL clubs.

She scored 10 league goals in 20 WSL appearances last term as Manchester United’s joint-leading goalscorer, netting once in every 156 minutes of WSL football, and overall netted 27 times in 59 games for the club in all competitions since arriving in 2020.

The news comes whilst United’s Spain right-back Ona Batlle, who is also out of contract this summer, has been heavily linked with a move to Barcelona, in what could become a double blow for Marc Skinner’s side.

Why is Russo leaving and where will she go next?

The Lionesses star’s departure will hit hard for Manchester United fans, with Russo named as the club’s Player of the Year in May. She was also a childhood Manchester United supporter herself.

In a video posted on her social media channels, Russo spoke of her gratitude of having “lived her dream” of representing the club, saying: “If I ever picture myself as a little girl, I’m wearing a United shirt.”

“I’m going to miss my team-mates, the fans and the staff at the club so much. Thank you to each and every one of you for allowing me to live my dream. It’s been a pleasure to wear the 23 shirt.”

However, the two parties were some way apart in their contract negotiations earlier in the season, and the longer this issue remained unsettled, the more likely it became that 2022-23 would be her last campaign with the club, even with the club’s boost of qualifying for European football for next term.

Manchester United’s latest offer is understood to have been in line with Russo’s wage demands and would have made her their highest-paid player, but there was disappointment from her camp that those terms were not met earlier in the season and a perception that it was all perhaps too little too late.

Arsenal’s interest has been abundantly clear ever since they tried to sign her on a dramatic January deadline day for a fee in the region of £500,000, and the north London club are understood to be in talks with Russo’s representatives. Jonas Eidevall’s team is believed to be her most likely destination in early July.

However, contract offers have been made by multiple clubs in America’s NWSL, and Russo previously lived, played and studied in the USA when she was with North Carolina Tar Heels.

Wherever she decides to go, it is expected she will look to tie everything up before England fly to Australia on 5th July for their overseas warm-up camp ahead of the World Cup, which gets under way on 20 July.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbHLnp6rmaCde6S7ja6iaJ6fpMGjrculZmtoYmh8cYKOam1omZyawLS1wGaprqujpHq1wdGnZJ2np6N6s7HCqKmdZaCWxm67xZ%2Bcq2WdlrtuwdOdZJqqo5q7oriO