Alessia Russo: Arsenal Star on Form, Happiness & Giving Back
Alessia Russo is enjoying a period of sustained success, both on and off the pitch, and the results are evident in her performances for Arsenal and England. The 27-year-old forward has scored 15 goals and provided six assists in 29 games for her club this season, and currently leads all players in Champions League scoring ahead of Arsenal’s quarter-final first leg against Chelsea on Tuesday.
Since scoring the equalising goal in the Euro 2025 final, Russo has added four goals in six appearances for the England national team. “Whenever you’re happy in life and in your club environment, it breathes on to the pitch,” Russo said. “I do feel in a really decent place. I feel super calm and I’m just enjoying my football.”
Russo credits a shift in mindset for her improved form. “I’m staying quite present this year, which is something I’ve tried to do a lot over the last couple of years, making sure I just enjoy the here and now and focus on each moment. That helps me stay locked in on one thing at a time.” She acknowledges that mastering this focus has been a gradual process. “I’ve probably only got used to it over the last couple of years at 26 and 27,” Russo explained. “Before that things were just 100 miles an hour and you can get carried away and think too far ahead. I’ve found that does not help me at all, so staying super-present and really locked in on the moment is something that helps me get the best out of myself on the pitch.”
Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over West Ham United on Saturday marked Russo’s 101st appearance for the club and kicks off a challenging week featuring London derbies. The Champions League clash with Chelsea is followed by a Women’s Super League match against Tottenham Hotspur four days later. Despite the strong form, Arsenal trails league leader Manchester City by 11 points, with Manchester United a further three points ahead and Chelsea two. However, Arsenal has two games in hand over City.
While City’s WSL lead appears secure, Russo emphasized that silverware remains within reach. Arsenal is still competing in the Champions League quarter-finals and the FA Cup. Russo highlighted the unique pressure that comes with being the only English team to have previously won the Champions League, a feat achieved 18 years ago. “Maybe the pressure isn’t as intense, but for us and the standards that we set ourselves there’s a different kind of pressure. The difference is that we know we’ve got what it takes, but we also know how amazing it feels to win and we want that feeling over and over again.”
Russo’s versatility has been noted, with her increasingly playing a deeper role for Arsenal. She acknowledges the satisfaction derived from the less-heralded aspects of the game. “I’ll never say that anything beats scoring, but I do enjoy the dirty stuff and the hard graft,” she said. “I’ve always been quite a hard-working player. When you have to incorporate that in your game I do enjoy it, I enjoy when things get tough.”
The support of her family is a constant source of motivation. Russo’s brothers, Georgio and Luca (who also serves as her agent), and parents, Mario and Carol, regularly attend her matches, with her father having attended every game. She cherishes the opportunity to reward their unwavering support with successes like last season’s Champions League triumph and the Euro 2025 victory. She specifically recalled two photographs of her father: one with his first Arsenal shirt upon her signing with the club, and another celebrating the 2022 European Championship win with a medal around his neck.
The recent birth of her niece, on May 23 – the same date as Russo’s shirt number – has added another layer of joy to her life. “She’s just the light of our family now. She’s just amazing. I didn’t know how much I’d love it until it happened,” Russo said. “Kids just make everything better. Whether I’ve had a good or subpar game, I go into the family room and she’s there. She doesn’t care, she’s away with the fairies playing with her toys.”
Beyond her on-field achievements, Russo is committed to giving back through the newly launched Alessia Russo Foundation, which aims to promote girls’ participation in sports, empower young women, and improve women’s health. She emphasized the importance of using her platform to make a meaningful impact. “I feel grateful that I play for Arsenal, one of the best clubs in the world, and for England, one of the best national teams in the world,” she said. “I’ve got this platform, people know me, and while I’m fortunate enough to have that I want to do something as meaningful as possible with it when it will have the biggest impact.”
Russo highlighted the efforts of her teammates, such as Ella Toone’s academy and Lauren James’ scholarship, as examples of the broader commitment to positive change within the sport. She also expressed her enjoyment of watching the Arsenal men’s team, noting the positive relationship between the two squads.
Looking ahead, Russo acknowledged the challenge of potentially winning silverware with both Arsenal’s men’s and women’s teams this season. “That would be sick, a nice trophy parade,” she said, before adding with determination: “The men’s and women’s teams would say we’ve got to perform now. We’re fortunate enough to still be in lots of competitions and pushing for lots of things, but it means nothing if we don’t go out and perform on the pitch. It would be amazing, but we’ve got to keep winning.”