This week, Arsenal confirmed that Sudbury’s Cloe Lacasse joined the club on a permanent deal.
The 29-year-old Canadian international joins the Gunners following a four-year spell in Portugal with Benfica.
After beginning her youth career in Sudbury she moved into the NCAA to play college football with Iowa Hawkeyes in 2011. While at Iowa she became their top point scorer during all four seasons, was named first team All-Big Ten honouree as a junior and senior, 2014 first-team NSCAA All-Great Lakes region honouree and a two-time second-team NSCAA All-Great Lakes region honouree (2012, 2013).
Cloe finished her Hawkeye career ranking tied for first in points (112), first in shots (306), second in program history in goals (43), game-winning goals (13), and assists (26). She was also a four-time Iowa Offensive Most Valuable Player in a stellar collegiate career.
A move to Europe followed in 2015 when Cloe signed for Icelandic team IBV, where she won the Icelandic League Cup in 2016 before lifting the Icelandic Women’s Football Cup in 2017. During this time in Iceland, she applied for and received her Icelandic citizenship.
Cloe then signed for Benfica in 2019 and went on to have a highly successful four-year career with the Portuguese side, scoring 102 goals in 131 games to help the team to three Portuguese league titles, three Portuguese League Cups and two Portuguese Super Cups. She was the league’s top scorer in the 2019/20 season and was named the league’s Player of the Year at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Despite breaking into the national team later in her career, Cloe been awarded 19 caps for the Canadian national team, scoring one goal. She has also been named in the Canada squad for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“I’m super excited and enthusiastic to get started here,” said Cloe. “I feel ready mentally and physically to be able to contribute here and win titles and I feel that this club has everything it takes to compete for the highest honours. I want to go to the next level and score goals here for Arsenal.”
Head Coach Jonas Eidevall said: “I’m really pleased that we have signed Cloe to strengthen our forward line here at Arsenal. Cloe is a proven goalscorer and has shown her quality over a number of seasons in two European leagues as well as the Champions League. She will add a different dimension to our attacking game and I’m looking forward to working with her.”
Head of Women’s Football Clare Wheatley said: “Cloe is a player we have been monitoring for some time so we’re delighted to have completed this signing. Cloe’s record is very impressive and we believe she has the right qualities to slot straight into our playing style here at Arsenal. I’m sure our supporters will be excited to see Cloe in the red and white.”
The deal is subject to the completion of regulatory processes.
Quotes reproduced with permission from arsenal.com
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
