You're The One

Chapter 16

January 2021 - north London, England

"Hey there!" I said to Arsenal's newest January signing, introducing myself. "My name is Aleid, and this is Leah." Leah and I had come in slightly late to training and caught the new girl standing timidly outside with her agent.

"Hi!" She responded eagerly, and I could see her visibly relax a little. "I'm Carmen, it's so nice to meet you." Carmen Bracamonte, Arsenal's newest member of the attacking party. She was freshly signed from the United States, playing collegiate 'soccer' at UCLA for the past few years and graduating a few months early.

"Aleid!" Jonas called towards me, having come outside to greet our new signing. "Do you mind filming an interview with Carmen later today for the announcement? Since you both played in the US, I felt like it might be nice to have you do it!"

"Of course!" I said, excited to have the chance to get to know Carmen, especially since I could relate to her on some level.

After an exhausting training session, Carmen and I were ready for her interview. She had settled in well so far - as much as she could in a few hours of course - getting on with all the girls and participating enthusiastically.

"So Carmen, how has your first day here at Arsenal gone so far?" I asked, smiling reassuringly to settle her nerves. I knew how intimidating starting at a new club could be.

"It's been really nice, everyone's so nice and eager to help me settle in. This is a dream experience for me so I'm so excited to finally be here."

"How did you feel when you learnt that Arsenal was interested in signing you?"

"Like I said, I was and still am so excited to be able to play for such an amazing club. When my agent told me about Arsenal I couldn't believe I would be getting the opportunity to play here. It's surreal."

"This is your first professional contract, since you just graduated at UCLA. How different do you think this experience will be compared to collegiate soccer in the US?"

"I'm sure that it will be very different. Back at UCLA I was playing along with studying for my degree and stuff, whereas now my primary focus can be soccer."

"Soccer or football?"

"Soccer..." She responded, jokingly grimacing. "When I hear football I just think of the NFL!"

"Hard pass on that for me. Football all the way!"

"To be honest, I would've hoped you would say soccer too considering you played in the NWSL too!"

I shrugged, with both of us laughing. "Why did you choose to play abroad in Europe rather than in the NWSL?"

"I think that a lot of people believe moving across the country is a very hard challenge. I agree of course, it's definitely intimidating and strange to be so far from family. But my twin sister plays abroad in Spain and has for a couple years, so she played a large part in helping me make my decision."

"Yes, your sister Noa who plays in Spain for Atlético Madrid. What's it like having family playing the sport alongside you?"

"Obviously I'm lucky to have an instant friend in the football world, but we haven't played together for three years now! We don't really talk much about football if I'm completely honest."