'Legend' McCabe cannot be directly replaced - Slegers
[Getty Images] Arsenal manager Renee Slegers says departing full-back Katie McCabe is "a legend of the club" and replacing her directly is "not possible". The Republic of Ireland captain, 30, will leave the club when her contract expires at the end of the season, having played 305 games in 11 years with the Gunners. McCabe played a pivotal role in helping Arsenal win the Women's Super League in 2019, as well as the Champions League last season, and also has an FA Cup, three League Cups and one Champions Cup medal from her time in north London.
"It's been an honour and I think especially towards the end, we've grown closer to each other as well," Slegers said on her time working with McCabe. "She possesses such a high football intelligence, which will be missed. She sees the pictures very clearly, she knows what decisions to make in the moment.
She can transfer ideas onto the pitch, she trusts her instincts as well, she reads the game. "But also her grittiness, her fight, playing with her heart, which was very important for us as a team, which will be important tomorrow as well, because she's really added that edge to who we are as a team. "My respect for Katie is huge.
If you are loyal to a club for 11 years and you give your absolute everything to a club, I think it's very rare nowadays. "She's been a leader for the team and the trophies that she's won, she's done so much, she's a legend of the club. " Arsenal travel to Liverpool on Saturday as they aim to secure second place in the WSL on their first visit to Anfield for 13 years.
The game will also be England winger Beth Mead's last before leaving the club, with Spain defender Laia Codina and Netherlands midfielder Victoria Pelova also departing in the summer. "If you take away Katie McCabe and someone else has to go in and bring the exact same thing, that's not possible," Slegers added.