Beth Mead Arsenal Women 2022-23Getty

'I would've loved to have played with Beth Mead' - England star praised by Arsenal legend Julie Fleeting

  • Fleeting became European champion with Arsenal in 2007
  • Picks Mead as current Gunner she'd loved to have played with
  • Arsenal could reach Champions League final again on Monday

WHAT HAPPENED? Mead shone for England as the Lionesses won the Euros last summer, picking up the Golden Boot and the Player of the Tournament award. She started this season is sublime form for Arsenal, too, but an ACL injury in November has sadly put her on the sidelines for a long spell.

Fleeting, a Champions League winner with the Gunners in 2007, is a huge fan of the forward, and praised Mead prior to Arsenal's huge European semi-final second leg against Wolfsburg.

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WHAT THEY SAID: Ahead of that huge game, as part of UEFA’s Queens of Football campaign, Indivisa caught up with Fleeting to talk about the incredible achievement of 2007, how she managed to feature for the north London club while still living in Scotland and which player from the current Arsenal team she’d loved to have played with.

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"I would have loved to have played with Beth Mead," she said. "Obviously, now, it's a real shame that she is out but she's a player, a special player. I met her recently and she seems like a cracking person as well. She's certainly someone I'm sure I would have got along with, both on and off the pitch."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mead hasn't featured for club or country since before Christmas but she has played her part in Arsenal's run to the last four in Europe, scoring twice in the 5-1 rout of reigning champions Lyon back in October. The forward is unlikely to play against this season but hasn't given up hopes of making England's Women's World Cup squad this summer.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

Julie Fleeting Arsenal UEFA Queens of FootballBeth Mead Arsenal Tottenham WSL 2022-23Getty ImagesJulie Fleeting Arsenal Women 2006Getty

WHAT NEXT? Mead will no doubt be in the stands cheering on her team at the Emirates next week as they look to reach the UWCL final. The Gunners drew 2-2 in Germany in the first leg and have every chance to make it there, with Barcelona to be the opponents for the winner after they edged out Chelsea on Thursday.

This season UEFA are celebrating the legends of the UWCL through the Greatest Moment Tees campaign. Julie’s assist in the 2007 Final has been transformed into an iconic art and fashion crossover.

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