Arsenal Women: Renee Slegers confirmed as permanent head coach following Jonas Eidevall's departure

Arsenal have appointed Renee Slegers as Jonas Eidevall's permanent successor following a highly successful period as interim head coach.

Slegers, put in temporary charge, has overseen 10 wins from 11 matches in a three-month unbeaten run, as Arsenal rose from fifth to third in the WSL and secured automatic qualification in the Champions League.

The 35-year-old Dutchwoman has signed a contract through to the end of the 2025-26 season.

Eidevall resigned in mid-October after three years in charge. The decision came after a defeat to Chelsea, with Arsenal only managing one win from their opening four Women's Super League games.

Slegers is a former Netherlands international midfielder and had been part of Arsenal's backroom team since 2023 following a two-year spell in charge of Rosengard, where she won back-to-back Swedish league titles in 2021 and 2022.

"I'm so excited to be continuing our journey together," said Slegers. "It's a wonderful honour to represent this club as head coach and I have so much belief in what we can all achieve together.

"Over the past few months, I've felt such a powerful sense of collective ownership and responsibility across our players and staff - that has been our strength and I know we will make sure we drive and nurture this feeling as we all move forward.

"It has meant the world to me to feel the closeness and passion of our supporters during this process, and I want to thank you all for that. We want to deliver something beautiful that's inspiring and leads to winning trophies. We all have a big part to play in achieving that."

Slegers, who earned 55 caps for the Netherlands before retiring in 2016, spent time at Arsenal's youth academy between 2006 and 2007, and also represented Dutch side Willem II and Swedish sides Djurgardens and Linkoping.

Arsenal's director of women's football Clare Wheatley added: "We're delighted to appoint Renée as our permanent head coach. Renée has excelled during her time as interim head coach, bringing our team, club and supporters together and leading us to a hugely impressive run of results and performances.

"We have undertaken a thorough recruitment process aimed at identifying the best candidate to lead our women's first team at this exciting time. Renée was the stand-out candidate throughout the process and we're thrilled to be continuing our journey with her as our permanent head coach.

"Renée understands the values and ambitions of our club, with experience of representing Arsenal both as a young player and now in a coaching capacity. We have every confidence that she is the best person to take us forward as we compete for trophies this season and beyond."

Slegers also received the seal of approval from Mikel Arteta on her appointment.

He said: "I'm very happy. She's done a phenomenal job since she joined the role and I'm very happy for her, and for the club as well because promoting someone that was already with us is a very strong signal and a very good decision, I must say. I'm very happy for her."

Arsenal play Crystal Palace at Meadow Park on Sunday, with a chance to move above Manchester City into second in the WSL table.

Zone Sporty VIP' Laura Hunter:

It's been 94 days since Jonas Eidevall walked out of Arsenal. The Gunners have played 11 games since that gloomy day in October, winning 10 and drawing one. The uptick has been pronounced, in both results and performance, and the individual credited is Renee Slegers.

Numerous coaches from around the world were considered for Arsenal's permanent position, but none with such a compelling record in the hot seat. Slegers was the candidate fortunate enough to already be on the inside - an obvious advantage - but her graduation from interim boss is no less deserved.

Some billed the Dutchwoman as a shoo-in, this journalist included, but such commendation has been earned with results obtained the 'Arsenal way', and with an impressive show of strength to make a clean break from adversity.

Simply, she has been the club's steadying hand.

Read the full feature on Arsenal's turnaround under Slegers.