Updated 22.40 | Published 22.39
GOTHENBURG. After ten years at Arsenal, Katie McCabe made a decision that made the supporters see red.
Now Nathalie Björn tells us what it’s like to bring the former rival into Chelsea.
– It is clear that it is a special transition.
When Chelsea introduced Katie McCabe, it was one of the big signings of the summer.
But also one of the most controversial.
The contract with Arsenal expires on July 1 and when the parties failed to agree on an extension, the door was opened for Chelsea.
The reactions were not long in coming.
On social media, supporters have talked about burning her shirt.
– It is clear that it is a special transition when you have played in another team for ten seasons, says the Chelsea defender Nathalie Björn.
However, she welcomes McCabe and believes that the Irish national team captain will fit in well at her new club.
– I have no doubts that it will be great when Katie arrives.
Was that a hint?
Just before the transfer became official, Chelsea won the World Sevens.
Before the final, the players entered a Mannequin Challenge where viral moments from the season were recreated.
One of the scenes depicted McCabe pulling Alyssa Thompson by the hair in the Champions League quarter-final that Arsenal won against Chelsea.
After the transfer, several supporters have asked the same question: Was it a hint?
– Who knows? Nobody knows if it was a hint or not, says Nathalie Björn with a sly smile.
“She’s only human”
Björn, on the other hand, is clear about what she thinks of the reactions.
– It is not fun to hear that she has received so much hate. She’s only human at the end of the day.
But she understands that it arouses strong reactions among Arsenal fans.
Of course, she has been at Arsenal for a very long time and then go to the biggest rival.
– What has happened behind closed doors, only she and the clubs know.
National team colleague Anna Sandberg also sees the uproar as a sign of women’s football’s development, that it affects more and more people.
– There are a lot of emotions, especially when there is such a change of rivals.
And the rivalry?
– I love those matches. It’s fight, it’s fight.
Nathalie Björn beats her fists together to symbolize that and then she smiles.
– I love winning against Arsenal.
