Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers and striker Alessia Russo both paid tribute to Gunners legend Jen Beattie after the popular defender announced her retirement from professional football earlier this week.

Slegers and Russo both joined the Gunners in the summer of 2023, with Beattie leaving Arsenal to join NWSL side Bay FC in February 2024.

Despite only spending a few months with the Scottish centre-back, both felt Beattie had left a lasting impression during their time at Arsenal with her, on and off the pitch.

“I actually wish I'd got to spend more time with her as her teammate,” Russo told the Gooner Fanzine.

“Not only because of what she offered on the pitch but off the pitch as well. She's such a lovely person. She welcomed me in straight away when I arrived at Arsenal and what she's been through as a person and how her career has been is just incredible. 

“She's one of those players that you look up to as a kid and she's definitely left the game and the shirt in a better place.”

Arsenal boss Slegers was part of Jonas Eidevall’s coaching staff during Beattie’s final months with the Gunners, and labelled the five-time WSL winner “a very good person, and a very good teammate.”

“She was very good with the girls in the team, she has leadership, she cares and demands, and she was a really good link for us as a staff back then in my role as well, so she's a great person,” Slegers told the Gooner.

“I think she's had a great career, she's meant a lot for the teams she's played for, and it's going to be interesting to see if she's going to stay in football and what role she's going to contribute with, because I hope she will stay in an active role around women's football.”

As well as scoring legendary goals in the Champions League in the back end of her Arsenal career, Beattie also played a role in the club’s commercial and partnership teams as well as mentoring academy players.

Asked by the Gooner if the door was open for Beattie for a future role at Arsenal, Slegers said “That's not up to me to say, but all I know and all I want to say is that Jen is a really good person.”