Chloe Lacasse Opens Up About Her Dream Move to Arsenal – Great

Judging by the opening days of the Women’s World Cup, Cloe Lacasse’s first introduction to her new Arsenal teammates could be a fiery exchange with Katie McCabe.

For Canada, it is the Republic of Ireland next after opening their tournament with a goalless draw against Nigeria. Lacasse played her part in the move that won Canada the penalty, but it was missed by Christine Sinclair, leaving the Olympic champions still searching for their first win Down Under.

Ever since that gold medal in Tokyo two years ago, expectation has rocketed – despite Canada being one of several nations at this World Cup that does not have a professional women’s league. It means Lacasse, like the entirety of Beverly Priestman’s squad, has to play her football outside her homeland, which most recently took her to Benfica, from where she earned a move to Arsenal earlier this summer.

“It’s one of the challenges right now being a Canadian player,” Lacasse tells i.

“We don’t have a professional league yet, it’s going to be coming up in 2025. So most Canadian players have to take different routes to make it professionally and also to be seen on the international level.

“I definitely think they’re behind as far as youth development goes, also the growth of the game. But now that it’s happening worldwide I think Canada knows they have the talent, youth talent, the seniors, and they just need to take that opportunity. And two years from now it’s going to finally happen. As a player you want to give back and you want to leave it better than it was when you got there and I think the players we have now representing Canada are really taking a big footing in that regard.

“I ended up in Iceland and afterwards Benfica took a chance on me, given that it was their second year as a women’s project and my name wasn’t quite known at the time. So we both benefited from that relationship and we both leave having gained a lot of value and appreciation for one another.”

That is perhaps an understatement. In four years in Portugal, she won Player of the Year 2022-23, a Golden Boot in 2019-20, scored 102 goals in 131 games and won three league titles, three League Cups and two Super Cups.

From there, Arsenal was an obvious move – though not one without its challenges. The Gunners have also signed Alessia Russo after her Manchester United contract expired, and Lacasse will be competing for goals in an attack consisting of the England forward, plus Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema when they recover from their ACL tears. Last season injuries decimated Arsenal’s WSL title hopes but this year the aim is to have far more depth.

“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to go there, I wanted that internal competition,” Lacasse says.

“That’s just going to make the team get better and better each day. I think Arsenal’s going to be a massive threat on the European level and in the WSL – so yeah, look out!”

It is evidently a message taken from the Jonas Eidevall textbook, the Arsenal head coach promising Lacasse a “challenging and competitive environment” in talks with the forward before she signed.

“These last couple years for my career have been an upward climb, truthfully, and having had this last season go extremely well with Benfica and with the Canadian national team I knew that opportunities were going to come from it,” she adds.

“When Arsenal came to the table, it was a dream. It was extremely exciting to have the opportunity to negotiate that.

“I want my career to keep growing and Jonas definitely mentioned that – I’m aware of the roster Arsenal has. I know that’s going to provide the environment that I want and they have a lot to take from me as well. So it’s going to be a good combination.”

What is clear is that the 30-year-old expects to win trophies in north London. Canada, meanwhile, are considered dark horses at the World Cup, helped by their triumph in Tokyo which, she believes, “put Canada’s name in bold capitals”. Though Lacasse says the stereotypes are true – statements like that do not come naturally to her and her compatriots. “Being the Canadian team, everyone’s super humble,” she laughs. “But everyone’s got belief.”

That will be vital against an Irish squad who have been instructed by head coach Vera Pauw to “outbelieve” – and that conviction will only have grown after a valiant display even in defeat to Australia on the opening day in Sydney.

“We know at a World Cup especially now, as the women’s game has grown exponentially, every team that’s here has rightfully deserved their position – there’s no easy games anymore,” says Lacassse.

“That’s what’s super exciting about this World Cup. We’re seeing the growth of the game and we’re going to take each game one by one and we understand that each game is going to be challenging in different ways.”

Meeting McCabe, who is now her Arsenal colleague, as an opposing player will be “a little bit weird”, she concedes, but says “there’s no better way as a footballer”.

If they do get a chance to swap notes, they will no doubt include the Gunners’ ambition to knock Chelsea off their perch next season.

“Arsenal is such a massive name worldwide. We need to be challenging for everything we can possibly win.”