Jen Beattie insists she is “nowhere near done” as she looks ahead to another season with Arsenal.
The 32-year-old Scot is in her second spell with the club, having first joined in 2009 and had subsequent stints with Montpellier, Manchester City and Melbourne City before returning to north London in 2019.
She signed a contract extension last month and is loving every minute of life with the Gunners.
“Each or every contract extension, I’m more and more grateful for because I don’t want to retire,” Beattie told the PA news agency. “I’m nowhere near done and I love being at such a top club at a top level.
“It definitely makes me more proud to still be a part of it, having seen the game go from amateur, semi-pro to professional.
“I think I was about 22 when I first got my professional contract – that’s quite late, considering how long I’ve played.
“It’s amazing, you never dream of playing at the Emirates in front of sell-out crowds, so to do that last year and to hope to still do that again next year or in the next couple of years is just exciting.”
Beattie’s contract extension announcement came two days after she was made an MBE at Windsor Castle for services to football and charity.
The centre-back has worked with charities to raise awareness about cancer after making her own recovery from breast cancer.
View this post on Instagram“It was incredible,” Beattie said. “Chatting to Prince William will always be one of the most surreal moments I’ve had.
“Windsor Castle was obviously an incredible place and stunning, just one of those things you never expect. It’s never on your radar when you start playing football so it was definitely a special day.”
Beattie was diagnosed with breast cancer during October 2020 and underwent radiotherapy while still playing football.
She has made a full recovery and praised the football community for helping her to raise awareness.
“It was without a doubt one of the most difficult periods of my life,” she said.
“I thought if we can all come together and have open and honest conversations about raising awareness – I was 29 with no family history and I think that’s important to say that it can happen to anyone, but if you find it early enough it can be OK.
“So getting checks is important – especially over Covid, and the middle of lockdown, the number of cancers being diagnosed had dropped massively – so I think speaking about it and raising that awareness meant a lot to me.
“I’ll always credit the football community, who were incredible during that time, because I might have started the conversation by talking about myself, but the football community definitely made it as big as it could’ve been.
“I’m so thankful for that, for spreading the word.”
Beattie is an ambassador for the McDonald’s Fun Football programme, the largest grassroots programme in the UK for 5-11 year olds, where 250,000 children have had access to free football in the last 12 months.
Her attention now turns to a new season with Arsenal, who were affected last season by injuries to key players including Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Leah Williamson.
Despite this, the Gunners lifted the Continental Tyres Cup, finished third in the Women’s Super League and reached the Women’s Champions League semi-finals, and Beattie has set her sights high for the 2023-24 campaign.
“If we get everyone back fit, onto the pitch, it’s scary what hopefully we can achieve,” she added.
“Like most people, when you get a taste for something, you just want more. But Arsenal and the way it’s run, the players that we bring in, the staff we have behind the scenes, that’s what we all want.
“That’s why we’re at Arsenal – to win trophies. That’s where we got back to with the League Cup final and that’s what we want next year.”
:: Jen Beattie was speaking at the largest ever McDonald’s Fun Football session to celebrate the landmark of over 250,000 children from across the UK benefiting from access to free football this season. Sign up to a free session near you at www.mcdonalds.co.uk/football
Outgoing Brighton boss De Zerbi not walking into new job
Roberto De Zerbi insisted he does not have another job lined up after overseeing his final game as Brighton and Hove Albion boss on Sunday.
One day after surprisingly announcing De Zerbi's departure, Brighton ended their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 home loss to Manchester United.
That meant they slipped below rivals Crystal Palace to finish 11th in the table, their first bottom-half placing since finishing 16th in 2020-21.
De Zerbi has been linked with several big clubs since leading Brighton to European qualification last season, with Bayern Munich, Milan and Napoli touted as possible landing spots for the former Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk coach.
However, De Zerbi says he has not reached an agreement with any other club, telling reporters: "There isn't any club – no-one offered me anything. At the moment, nothing.
"I hope to work in the Premier League again. I don't know where or when, but it was an honour to work in the Premier League."
Sunday's defeat was De Zerbi's 70th Premier League game in charge of Brighton, with his top-flight win percentage of 37 per cent (26/70) the highest of any boss in the Seagulls' history.
Battling a lengthy injury list for much of 2023-24, Brighton made a total of 143 changes to their starting lineup throughout the course of the campaign, with only Manchester City in 2019-20 (144) ever making more in a single Premier League season.
Asked by BBC Match of the Day if there was a particular reason for his exit, the Italian added: "We didn't find the agreement to move on. I want to keep my way.
"I know very well what I want to do and I know I am a coach and I have to accept the policies of the club.
"They gave me an incredible chance. They gave me the possibility to know incredible people, to play and to work in the Premier League, to play in the Europa League. They gave me the opportunity to know this club, this city, these fans and that I cannot forget."
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna and Nice coach Francesco Farioli have both been tipped as possible contenders to replace De Zerbi, with Brighton having a reputation for excellent succession planning under owner Tony Bloom.
Asked about the search for a replacement on Sunday, Bloom said: "We always try and have a plan. We have got a plan. We now need to execute that plan."
Mateta 'finishing everything that comes to him' as Palace rout Villa
Jean-Philippe Mateta is "finishing everything that comes to him", according to his Crystal Palace team-mate Eberechi Eze.
Palace thumped fourth-placed Aston Villa 5-0 at home on the last day of the Premier League season to seal an unlikely top-10 finish, with Mateta scoring a hat-trick and Eze adding two goals of his own.
They ended the season with a seven-match unbeaten run under Oliver Glasner, who made a huge impact after replacing Roy Hodgson in February.
Mateta has been a huge beneficiary, as since Glasner's first game in charge on February 24, he has scored 13 Premier League goals, which is more than any other player in the competition.
He ended the campaign with 16 top-flight goals, putting him level with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Jarrod Bowen in the scoring charts. Only Andrew Johnson has netted more for the Eagles across a single campaign in the competition, when he netted 21 in 2004-05.
"He is what I'm playing for," Eze said about Mateta, per Palace's official website.
"He is finishing everything that comes to him, which makes our life a lot easier when I'm playing for him, so it's good.
"I did come close [to a hat-trick myself], but the most important thing is putting in good performances. We're all going to flourish, we're all going to have games where we score.
"We're preparing the work and we're doing the work before we go on to the pitch, so we're enjoying it, that's the main thing."
The match also saw Mateta become just the second Frenchman to score in seven home Premier League home appearances in a row, after Thierry Henry for Arsenal between May and October 2004.
Eze has also finished the season with a flourish, ending the campaign with 11 goals and four assists.
Mateta is among those who have called for him to earn a place in the England squad for Euro 2024.
"Of course it's an honour [to play for your country]," said Eze. "It would be a great experience.
"I think it is a dream for any player to play in any big tournament. But the main thing, I'm being realistic. It is what it is: if I get a call, I get a call.
"But the main thing is doing what I need to do for my club, and that's the performance."
Villa are the first side to concede five or more goals in their first and final matches of a top-flight season since Manchester City in 1962-63, having been beaten 5-1 at Newcastle on the opening weekend.
But they were magnificent in between those two losses, enjoying a campaign to remember as they qualified for the Champions League, confounding pre-season expectations.
"Thank you to our supporters because even today they were with us," said Villa boss Unai Emery after Sunday's loss.
"We achieved our objective on Tuesday [when UCL qualification was confirmed] and we did everything we could with our supporters in Villa Park on Monday [in the 3-3 draw with Liverpool].
"They were travelling here to be with us, supporting us so we are disappointed with the result, but we have to accept it.
"We have to be happy and share with our supporters the whole season, not just today. Every match is very important and we lost, but we’d achieved our target.
"We have to accept it and keep going forward. Now it’s time to rest and try to follow our players with their national teams and prepare as best as possible the next season.
"We have to enjoy the season we did and we’re very excited for the next season, but we have to take our time now."
Metz 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain: Ligue 1 champions make history with unbeaten away run
Paris Saint-Germain ended their Ligue 1 campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win at Metz on Sunday, courtesy of early goals from Carlos Soler and Lee Kang-in.
The Ligue 1 champions, who rested several key players, ended the season with 76 points, nine ahead of Monaco in second place.
Luis Enrique's team also became the first side in Ligue 1 history to go unbeaten on the road through the entirety of a campaign.
PSG rested several key players, including Kylian Mbappe, ahead of the Coupe de France final on Saturday against Lyon.
The visitors made an excellent start with Soler, who was teed up by Lee, breaking the deadlock with a shot from outside the box seven minutes in.
Lee subsequently doubled the lead five minutes later, becoming the first South Korean player to score and deliver an assist in the same Ligue 1 match since Hwang Ui-jo for Bordeaux in 2019.
Metz had their chances late in the match and went close on several occasions, but could not find a way back into the contest, and they will now face a relegation play-off against Saint-Etienne.
Data Debrief: History boys
PSG are the first team in Europe's top five leagues to have gone an entire league season without trailing for a single minute in an away match in the 21st century.
Their tally of 76 points trails only Saint-Etienne (77 in 1968-69, 81 in 1969-70, counting three points for a win) when it comes to a points total over the course of an 18-club league campaign.
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