Mead was runner-up in the 2021-22 Ballon d'Or Feminin. Beth Mead said it "breaks her heart" to leave Arsenal after it was announced the forward will depart the club at the end of the season. The 31-year-old England international has scored 86 goals in 263 games for the Gunners since joining them from Sunderland in 2017.

She has helped Arsenal win the Women's Champions League, Women's Super League, Fifa Champions Cup, and three League Cups in her time at the club. It is understood London City Lionesses and Manchester City are interested in signing Mead, who was named player of the tournament and winner of the Golden Boot as she helped England win Euro 2022.

While acknowledging the "unbelievable" on-field success she has experienced with Arsenal, Mead paid particular tribute to the support she received away from the football pitch, describing the club as the place "where I've grown up" and "felt a love and belonging" during struggles with homesickness, injury and bereavement.

"For me, it's always been about more than just trophies, it's about the people you share it with," Mead said in an emotional Instagram video. "The friendships I've made here go far beyond football and I know that they'll last a lifetime. You've seen me at my very best and you've seen me at my lowest and you've never let me face anything alone."

Inside Mead's 'gruelling' 11-month ACL recovery, Mead called tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in 2022 "one of the toughest challenges of my career" adding that "it was the team that got me through very dark day of rehab". She said: "I lost my Mum in January 2023 and I didn't know how I'd get through it but you held me up when I felt like I couldn't stand. You surrounded me with love and I'll never forget that.

"Leaving this club isn't easy. It breaks my heart in ways I didn't expect but I leave it with so much love, so much pride, and so much gratitude. Arsenal will always be a part of me."

Arsenal's director of women's football Clare Wheatley labelled Mead a "legend of the club" who will "go down in history as one of our best forwards". Mead ruptured her ACL in November 2022 and was forced to miss the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The 2022 BBC Sports Personality of the Year returned after 11 months out and was part of the England squad as the Lionesses retained their European title at Euro 2025.

She came on as a substitute in her side's Champions League final against Barcelona last season and, in one of her "greatest highlights in an Arsenal shirt", set up the winner for Stina Blackstenius as Arsenal won the title for the first time in 18 years.

This season, she has made 27 appearances in the WSL and Champions League, with 11 of those as a substitute, and scored five goals. Arsenal have also announced Victoria Pelova, who joined them from Ajax in January 2023, will be leaving the club at the end of the season. The Dutch midfielder has made 87 appearances for the Gunners, scoring six goals.

Mead's departure from Arsenal will come as no surprise to fans but it will be met with sadness as it brings to an end the stint of one of the club's most pivotal players of the last decade. The attacker has lit up the Emirates Stadium with her versatile style, movement and finishing.

Even at 31 years old, Mead is the kind of player who would walk into most WSL teams' starting XI. In recent seasons her appearances have started to be confined to coming off the bench but with the next World Cup in Brazil just a year away, it is understandable that she will now look for a club that can offer her more minutes to stay in boss Sarina Wiegman's England plans.

Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie are back for another season of the Women's Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed. Get the latest WSL news on our dedicated page.