Alessia Russo has spent the season doing what great forwards do: turning moments into headlines and pressure into silverware.
At 26, the Arsenal and England striker helped write a new chapter in British football history by powering Arsenal to the Women’s Champions League crown and then steering England to the defence of their European Championship title.
Her blend of ruthless finishing, intelligent movement and relentless work off the ball made her one of the defining players of the year.
Matchwinner for Club and Country
Russo’s season was threaded with big-game moments. She scored in the Euro 2025 final, a strike that underlined her appetite for the spotlight, and delivered consistently for Arsenal throughout the campaign.
Her goals came at crucial times, her pressing harried opponents into mistakes, and her runs opened space that team-mates exploited. Those contributions turned into trophies and headlines, and confirmed why she collected the Football Writers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year award.
The Number Nine Reimagined
Russo is not just a penalty-box predator. She thrives in the margins of defences, dropping deep to link play, using darting movements to lose markers and drawing fouls to win precious territory. Her hold-up play pulled defenders out of position and allowed team-mates like Mariona Caldentey to thread progressive passes into dangerous areas. When the ball sticks under pressure, Russo’s touches are efficient and purposeful, often converting a fraught situation into controlled possession and another attack.
Numbers That Tell a Story
WSL goals: 12 in 21 games; joint Golden Boot winner with Khadija Shaw.
Shots: 73; highest in the league.
Expected goals: 9.7; league-leading mark.
Fouled frequently: the most fouled player in last season’s Champions League with 15 infractions against her.
Individual honours: Football Writers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year; nominations for the Ballon d’Or; selections in the PFA and UEFA Champions League Teams of the Year.
Russo Speaks Like a Champion
"I play my best football when I’m enjoying myself and I know I’m training hard and I’m getting my work done," Russo says. "There’s so many different aspects to a number nine position, it’s so detailed and there are so many fine margins. I’m always still learning."
On Euro 2025 she reflects: "The whole tournament was a complete rollercoaster. It was highs and lows. It was emotionally really hard. It was taxing on our bodies. I think the way that we won throughout that whole tournament was just grit and resilience."
On the Champions League final she adds: "The overriding feeling from that day was calm. We’d done the work, we believed in the game plan. Playing a team like Barcelona means being comfortable without the ball. It was a lot of running and a lot of defensive work, but ultimately that’s what got the job done."
Legacy in Progress
Russo has moved from promising talent to unavoidable force. Her goals headline the highlights, but it is her all-around game—her pressing, her hold-up play, the way she forces opponents into errors—that separates her from the rest.
At club and international level she has become a match-winner who makes others better, and the season’s trophies and personal accolades are only the most visible proof that Alessia Russo is one of the world’s most complete forwards right now.
