How Arsenal Women have added titanium bricks to their battlements by signing World Cup champion Laia Codina – scout report

Every World Cup, quality players stand out, shine in front of the whole world, and receive new opportunities afterwards. As the World Cup 2023 closed its curtain, 23-year-old centre-back Laia Codina, who was part of Spains champion squad, contributing significantly with her world-class defence skills, moved to FAWSL side Arsenal.

Codina started her senior career by playing for Barcelona B at the age of 16. She played for Barcelonas first team in Liga F from 2018 to 2023 (except for her one-year loan to AC Milan), the Champions League and other tournaments.

During her time at Barcelona, she won three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues, one Spanish Cup and one Spanish Super Cup. After a knee injury in 2020, she underwent four months of recovery. Shortly after she returned, she signed a one-year loan deal with AC Milan, thus playing in Serie A and the Champions League for the 2021/2022 season.

She had been a regular in Spains youth national team and competed in multiple international championships. The World Cup 2023 was her debut on that particular illustrious international stage. After leaving as a champion, she departed Barcelona and embarked on her new journey with the Gunners.

During the World Cup, Laia Codina was among the starting XI for all of Spains knockout stage games. She contributed 72 minutes of top-class defence in the final against England. This young defenders unwavering commitment to her teams backline, which compensated for the unfortunate absence of legendary Mapi Leon for La Roja, convinced the Gunners she was the one for them.

Our tactical analysis and scout report shares analysis of her game and how we anticipate shell contribute to Jonas Eidevalls tactics and strategy on arrival at Arsenal.

Player Style

Codina plays both left and right centre-back positions. Her heatmap is relatively condensed (see plot below) compared to defenders like Leah Williamson, whose heatmap shows more highlights beyond the halfway line.

As Barcelona and Spain both rely heavily on the full-backs to assist their offence, Codina occasionally shifts to the sides to cover for space behind the full-backs during her Barca games and international games.

In Spains World Cup final against England, both centre-backs had defended near the sidelines. Olga Carmona, the left-back on the same side as Codina, constantly moved and stayed up high on the pitch. When England delivered the ball to Spains left-back side, Carmona occasionally stayed up and trusted the centre-backs to handle the situation.

Therefore, Carmona was free to run up towards the end line in