It’s been a summer of change for Juventus Women. The club has seen two members of the original roster from 2017 head out for new adventures, signing with NWSL clubs in the United States. One of them, fullback Lisa Boattin, has one of the highest total number of appearances in club history. The other, striker Sofia Cantore, was named to the Women’s Ballon d’Or shortlist earlier this summer after the best season of her career.
Changes happen. But not often do you see two of the best on the roster leave
within a couple of months of each other — especially for a club like Juve that has had so much stability when it comes to its Italian core.
So what did Juventus Women do with less than a week to go in the summer transfer window? Make arguably their biggest signing they’ve made in the last couple of years.
Juve announced on Thursday — the final day of the women’s transfer window in England — that they have signed Arsenal midfielder Lia Wälti after she spent the past seven incredibly successful years in London. Juventus Women have paid a reported €100,000 to sign Wälti, who was in the final year of her contract with Arsenal and has signed a two-year deal through 2027 with the Bianconere. Wälti arrives during a time in which Juve manager Max Canzi has decided to shift from the 3-4-1-2 he started using this preseason to more of a 3-5-2, with Wälti slated to step right into the holding midfielder position and join a midfield group that has plenty of young talent already on the roster.
Wälti will wear the No. 13 jersey — which previously had only one player wear it at Juventus Women: Boattin.
Affectionately called “Wally” at Arsenal, she described in a four-minute video posted to Instagram that leaving the club was “without any doubt, one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to take in my life.” The current captain of the Swiss national team with over 100 caps to her name, Wälti had been an integral part of the Arsenal midfield for much of her seven seasons in London. While she saw her minutes diminish last season — one where Arsenal went on to win the Women’s Champions League final against Barcelona — she was a huge part of Arsenal’s last Women’s Super League-winning team in 2018-19 durng her debut campaign.
So what sold Wälti on heading to Italy?
According to JuventusNews24.com’s Mauro Munno, former Juventus Women manager Joe Montemurro was somebody that Wälti spoke with before she accepted the offer to move to Italy. The two worked together at Arsenal, and even though Montemurro saw things somewhat fall apart during his last few months in charge at Juve, he still holds the club and those in charge in high regard. So, with Montemurro’s blessing, certainly some insight from Swiss teammate and current Juve center back Calligaris as well as a hour-long chat with Canzi about her tactical and leadership role within this current Juve squad, it was the kind of situation Wälti was sold on, according to Munno.
And as much as Juve still have a strong leadership structure with the likes of new captain Martina Rosucci, Cristiana Girelli — a fellow Ballon d’Or nominee like Cantore — and Barbara Bonansea, adding a player like Wälti feels like a no-brainer for a club that has lost some important pieces over the last year. She said so herself in her introductory interview with Juventus’ official website:
“I’m a defensive midfielder, I think I read the game really well and I’m a good tackler. Everybody used to say I make players around me better by covering for them, so I think my reading of the game gives the players around me the freedom to attack. I’m a leader, I want to take responsibility in my role and be sure that we, firstly, don’t concede, and secondly, look to create chances. I want to be a good teammate.
It’s a huge signing for Juventus Women and Serie A Women (hey new name!) as a whole to have such an accomplished player arrive like Wälti has. Yes, even with the kind of players they have lost this summer, most notably Boattin and Cantore. Juve were able to reinvest some of that money to bring in a quality player that should prove vital domestically and in the Women’s Champions League, which will have its new 16-team league phase draw later this month.
