Beth Mead will leave Arsenal after nine years when her contract expires this summer. The England forward has made 265 appearances and scored 86 goals since joining from Sunderland, winning a WSL title, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Champions Cup while at the club.

Mead, a fan favourite, played an important role in Arsenal’s second European title last May. Her clever pass created the only goal for fellow substitute, Stina Blackstenius, against Barcelona in the Lisbon final.

Arsenal’s director of women’s football, Clare Wheatley, said Mead “will go down in history as one of our best forwards and a legend of the club. Beth is such a special person and will always be welcome at Arsenal. I know our supporters will join me in wishing Beth happiness and success in her future endeavours.”

Mead, who turned 31 last Saturday, won the player of the tournament and golden boot awards at the European Championship in 2022 when the Lionesses lifted their first major trophy and was the BBC women’s footballer of the year and BBC sports personality of the year. Four months after the Euros triumph, an anterior cruciate ligament rupture stopped her momentum, and sidelined her for the 2023 World Cup.

Mead has since been back to her best and was a key part of the England team that retained the European Championship title in Switzerland last summer.

Mead attracted Arsenal’s attention after scoring 66 goals in 88 games for Sunderland across five years. The Whitby-born forward got 23 goals in 23 games for Sunderland in her first season in the second-tier FA Women’s Premier League and in 2015 became the youngest player to win the WSL golden boot, aged 20.

Arsenal announced Mead’s departure after confirming the Spanish centre-back, Laia Codina, and the midfielder, Victoria Pelova, will also depart this summer. Codina made 58 appearances and scored four goals for Arsenal after joining in 2023. Pelova, a Netherlands international, made 87 appearances after joining from Ajax in January 2023 only made five WSL starts and 15 substitute appearances this season. An ACL injury in the summer of 2024 ruled her out for most of the next season.