Géraldine Reuteler on playing at the Emirates and settling into London life: ‘London is as huge as Switzerland’
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Ahead of the 2026/27 WSL season getting underway, Géraldine Reuteler spoke exclusively to Her Football Hub at Arsenal’s media day to discuss her decision to leave Germany, dreams of playing at the Emirates Stadium, and what she enjoys getting up to in her free time.
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Arsenal announced the singing of their new recruit in early July after heavy speculation last summer. Following the departure of Lia Wälti to Juventus, the Gunners identified fellow Swiss midfielder Géraldine Reuteler as an ideal replacement.
However, with one year left on her contract with Eintracht Frankfurt, the club were unwilling to lose one of their longest-serving players. Reuteler, who remained in Germany, announced that following the conclusion of her contract she would be leaving the club after eight years and relocating to England.
“I wanted to see another league and the English league is one of the best leagues in the world,” she said. “So yeah, I’m really happy to be here.
“Arsenal is one of the best clubs in the world and I think it’s a privilege to play here, I’m excited.”
The 27-year-old arrives in north London with a wealth of experience to her name, having established herself as an important player for both club and country. She made her Switzerland debut as a teenager and has since become one of the country’s leading players.
On the international stage, the midfielder has featured in three European Championships including the 2025 edition hosted by her native Switzerland, alongside the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
But before she became an established international, she was simply a young girl following her older brothers into football. Beginning her football journey with FC Stans before joining FC Luzern in 2008, she made her senior debut in Switzerland’s top flight at just 15-years-old.
Where does Reuteler play?
Reuteler has spent the majority of her club career at Frankfurt, developing herself into a versatile attacking midfielder capable of operating in several positions. While she sees herself primarily as an eight, that flexibility was a major attraction for Arsenal manager Renée Slegers.
“She told me I’m the box-to-box player, so I think I’ll fit in the system of how Arsenal want to play,” Reuteler explained.
That versatility could prove particularly useful for Arsenal as they look to win their first WSL title since the 2018/19 season. Slegers has repeatedly shown a willingness to use players in different roles. The 27-year-old’s ability to move between midfield and attacking areas will surely give Arsenal another option when trying to break down opponents – something they have struggled with in previous seasons.
This summer has seen a flurry of stars from the Frauen Bundesliga depart for the WSL. Arsenal alone have signed three new recruits from the German league – Reuteler; Selina Cerci from Hoffenheim; Lisa Baum from RB Leipzig; and Georgia Stanway from Bayern-Munich.
For Reuteler, she sees England as an opportunity to push herself outside of the environment she’d become accustomed to in Germany.
“I think the Bundesliga is also a good league, a lot of good players, but I think it stopped improving. I think it’s a right step for me to be here, to see something else, something new, and also to improve.”
How does Arsenal compare to Eintracht Frankfurt?
Having spent eight years at Frankfurt, Reuteler admitted that Arsenal’s environment feels different, particularly in terms of the resources available to the players.
“There are so many great players I can learn from and the training is so professional and good quality, and I think I can learn something every day,” she said.
“It’s a huge difference [to Frankfurt]. It’s much bigger here and everything is a bit more professional. There’s so many staff members everywhere.
“We have more people here for everything, we have one or two or three people.”
After spending so long at a club where she knew the environment inside out, Reuteler believes Arsenal’s depth will force her to keep improving.
“I was at Frankfurt for a long time, so I knew everything,” she said. “Here it’s a bit of a difference. It’s very competitive every day and I’m really looking forward to it.”
The competitive nature of the WSL wasn’t the sole attraction for the midfielder, but Arsenal’s ability to regularly play in front of huge crowds at the Emirates also caught her attention.
“I think it’s a dream [to play at the Emirates],” she said. “Where else do we have this? In Germany it was not that often that you could play in the [main] stadium, so I think this is really, really cool.”
Settling into London
Football hasn’t been the only adjustment for the midfielder this summer. Leaving Frankfurt after such a long time has brought significant cultural changes for Reuteler, who admits she’s still adapting to the pace and size of her new home.
“It’s a big different to Switzerland or to Germany and Frankfurt,” she said. “London is huge, I think it’s as huge as Switzerland,” she joked.
Getting around the capital has provided it’s own challenges.
“I was in the city once and I like going more by car but I think it’s hard to go to London in the car.”
Away from the pitch, the midfielder is beginning to find some home comforts, especially with fellow Swiss international and close friend Nadine Riesen also making the move to England this summer.
“I like meeting friends and there’s also some Swiss people in England which is really nice. I like drinking coffee and going to new restaurants, going to the cinema, and things like this.”
What shirt number will Reuteler wear at Arsenal?
There are few shirt numbers at Arsenal that carry quite as much history as 14. For decades, it’s been synonymous with Thierry Henry, whose time in north London helped inspire a new generation of Arsenal supporters and cemented the number in the club’s history.
However, Arsenal’s new recruit was unaware of the significance when she chose no.14.
She said: “I’ve heard about it! But it’s a special number for me, I had no.14 at Luzern and Frankfurt and yeah, it’s my favourite number so I was really happy that it was free.”
And Reuteler won’t have to wait long for the chance to write her own story in the famous shirt.
Arsenal begin their 2026/27 WSL campaign on Sunday 6th September as they travel to Crawley to face Brighton & Hove Albion, with kick-off at 12pm. Their first home fixture follows a week later against newly promoted Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium.
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