Arsenal are delighted to confirm the signing of Spanish international defender Ona Batlle on a permanent transfer.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old defender joins us after leaving current UEFA Champions League holders Barcelona, where she made 114 appearances and scored 14 goals across three seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy and excited to get going,\u201d said Ona. \u201cArsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I can\u2019t wait to feel the joy of playing in front of our supporters at Emirates Stadium alongside so many great players. I want to win trophies and I feel this is the right place to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Vilassar de Mar in Barcelona, Ona developed in Barcelona\u2019s youth academy before gaining senior experience with Madrid CFF and Levante in the Spanish top flight.<\/p>\n
A move to England and the Women\u2019s Super League followed in the summer of 2020, as Ona joined Manchester United. Over three campaigns in Manchester, Ona made 77 appearances and scored three goals, establishing her reputation as one of the best full-backs in the world.<\/p>\n
Ona returned to Barcelona ahead of the 2023\/24 season and has played an integral role in the Catalans\u2019 success over the past three years, winning three league titles, three Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups and two UEFA Champions League titles.<\/p>\n
At international level, Ona made her senior Spain debut in 2019 and has won 76 caps for her country, scoring two goals. She started every game as Spain won the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in 2023, and also won back-to-back UEFA Women\u2019s Nations League titles in 2023\/24 and 2024\/25.<\/p>\n
In recognition of her achievements, Ona was named in The Best FIFA Women\u2019s 11 in 2024 and 2025, as well as the FIFPRO Women\u2019s World 11 in 2025.<\/p>\n
Director of Women\u2019s Football Clare Wheatley said: \u201cOna\u2019s track record at both club and international level speaks for itself \u2013 she\u2019s a proven winner with a hunger to add more trophies. We\u2019re delighted to bring one of the best defenders in the world to Arsenal, and I know our supporters will make her feel welcome straight away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Head Coach Ren\u00e9e Slegers said: \u201cI\u2019m delighted that we\u2019ve been able to bring Ona to the club. She\u2019s a hugely experienced full-back with strong attacking intent and great physical attributes. She\u2019s a winner and we want to go for more wins together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arsenal are delighted to confirm the signing of Spanish international defender Ona Batlle on a permanent transfer. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-791427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}