Juventus midfielder Lia Wälti reflects on her departure from Arsenal – “Every good moment with a team at some point comes to an end”.
Wälti made the move to the Bianconere over the summer after seven years in north London playing for Arsenal. Speaking about the move, Wälti packed on the praise for the Gunners whilst embracing the new challenge ahead.
“I think first of all, I had a really amazing time in England with Arsenal,” Wälti said. ” I think every good moment with a team at some point comes to an end, and I felt that it maybe is my time to move on if I want to have a big control over my career.
“We just started conversations with Juve a couple of weeks before the transfer happened, and I had a really good feeling from everybody surrounded by the club. I like the people. I think for me, it’s always the gut feeling to trust it, and I think when I spoke to them I had that feeling, and I felt a big trust in what I can bring to the team.
“For me, it was always important to look a bit beyond football as well, and being in a new country and getting to know a new league, a new culture, maybe learning a new language is something which benefits me. So I think in the end, it was really good choice for me, also being closer to your family. That is one thing I always miss, being able to see my family more and I think obviously a couple hours by car, that’s doable for them. So that’s amazing.”
Asked what she can take from her journey with Arsenal into the new chapter of her career, Wälti said she is excited to bring her own identity to Juventus.
“I think when I joined Arsenal, women’s football wasn’t as big yet. We just kind of built something over the past years. It was like 23 amazing players in that team, but now I join a team of 23 amazing players as well, maybe a little bit less experience on that level. So I’m trying to give my experience the exact same way. I think, even at Arsenal in the last year, where I maybe haven’t gotten the minutes as I used to get, I was the same person and a teammate in every training and in every game – as supportive as I could be.
“I’m doing the same here. I think if my opinion is is asked, I’m going to give it. If I can on the pitch, lead the team, I’m going to do it. And if I have to adapt to some things, I’m going to also have to do it. So I think it’s a bit of mix of everything you know, adapting into a new place is really important that you put yourself a bit in the back first, and then you observe everything, and you slowly, maybe bring a bit your identity into the team as well.”
Arsenal ‘believed’ they could win the Champions League
The 32-year-old is no stranger to European success, winning the Champions League with Arsenal in May. Overcoming Barcelona in a 1-0 victory in Lisbon, the Gunners made history winning their second Champions League title and remaining the only English team to ever lift the European honour.
“If you go into a final, you always have to believe that you’re gonna gonna win it. Otherwise, you don’t even need to start the game,” Wälti reflected on the historic day.
“So we did have a game plan for that game, and we know if Barcelona has a good game, then it’s going to be really hard, even though we have a perfect game. So we had to force them further, and we had to make the space tight for them. I think we chose the exact right tactic, and we also had the little bit of luck we needed in that game to not concede. I think in the end, during the game, as long as it was 0-0, the more we believed, we could feel that they’re getting a bit impatient.
“It’s hard sometimes to explain a feeling, but it felt like we actually all believed in it, and we had people coming from the bench with the right energy. I think it was just a perfect day in that sense, like the right tactics, the right momentum, we took our chance to score. Barca was maybe not on their best level on that day, but I do think we kind of forced them not to be on their best level. So I think it was very good team performance.
“It’s something unique, because we know the journey to win a Champions League final is extremely, extremely hard.”
When asked what it would be like to win the Champions League with Juventus, Wälti laughed: “If you would have asked me that question seven years ago with Arsenal, I would’ve laughed!”
“It’s always a dream, but it’s something you believe in. But it takes so much to win. It like it needs so much luck, it needs so many perfect performances, and you also need to see what’s around you with respect to all the opponents. And at the minute, there’s so many great teams.
“I think we know with Juventus, our biggest aim is, of course, everybody dreams about winning the Champions League, but we’re not one of the teams who probably is listed up top to win it, so we’re going to do everything to annoy the big teams, to get through the next round, to reach the quarter finals. We will take it game by game. But if you ask me like that, like, of course, if we could win it together, that’d be amazing. I think it’s just such a long journey, and it’s probably too early to dream about that.”
Leadership is ‘natural in me’ says Wälti
Wälti now sets her sights on a new chapter of her career, joining Juventus with high hopes to lead the club to glory.
“When the club spoke to me at the start – they said they need some experience. They want me to help the team to be a bit more successful, and both on the international level, but also helping the young players to grow. I think that’s what I can bring to the team, we’ll see. I think our main goals are always to win the national trophies we can win here. Then of course we want to go further than we’ve ever been. But in Champions League, it’s really hard. We know that, and it’s step by step, game by game and but I’m hoping to play my part to make the team being successful in those competitions as well.
“It’s important that I bring my experience and at the same time, respect the hierarchy and the club as well. There are players who have been here for a long, long time, I also can learn a lot from them. Of course, they do ask a lot, and I will give give my opinion, my experience, to them to help the team grow and improve.
“With young players, it’s always something really nice. If you’re a bit more experienced, you see them being so talented, and if you can help them on their journey. I think it doesn’t matter if I’m a new player or not, I want to help them growing. So I think it’s something natural in me. I’m a person who likes to take responsibility, so it’s hard to take that away no matter where I am.”
2025 a ‘special’ year for Wälti
It has been a career defining season for Wälti, and it wasn’t just made by the Champions League. Wälti led her nation out at Women’s Euro 2025 – a tournament that saw Switzerland make a historic quarter-final run on home soil.
Asked by The Halfway Line where 2o25 ranks on her career scale, Wälti answered simply – “It would have to be at the top”.
“I think it must rank on the very top,” Wälti said. “Not necessarily because of the club level – it was having a home tournament, I think is something unique. I think these these emotions, we were able to feel, they were unique. There’s something really, really special, and something I’m so, so thankful for. So it’s really hard to beat that feeling ever again, but I’m really thankful that I was able to play part of that and experience it, and I’m gonna carry that with me forever. For sure, 2025 is special.”
