Jonas Eidevall: Arsenal women appoint Rosengard boss as new head coach

Arsenal have appointed Rosengard boss Jonas Eidevall as their new head coach.

The 38-year-old guided the Swedish side to the quarter-finals of last season's Women's Champions League.

Eidevall succeeds Joe Montemurro, who left the Gunners at the end of the season after four years in charge.

The Swede, who had a brief spell as Henrik Larsson's assistant at Helsingborgs, has led Rosengard to three Swedish titles in two spells and has coached at men's side Lunds BK.

"Arsenal have a rich history, more successful than any other women's team in England. I want to add to these honours," he told the club website. , external

"It's super important that we win, and we will be very ambitious about that, but it's even more important that we live the values and defend the club badge on a day-to-day basis. I cannot wait to do that at Arsenal."

Eidevall began his coaching career as a 23-year-old with Lunds BK, becoming head coach three-and-a-half years later and guiding the side to the Swedish second-tier title.

He then moved to Rosengard, first as an assistant and then as head coach, winning the Swedish women's title in 2013 and 2014 before teaming up with former Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United striker Larsson for a short time at Helsingborgs.

He returned to Rosengard and led them to the 2018 Swedish Cup and 2019 league title before their run in Europe last season.

"Jonas was the standout candidate of everybody that we considered for this role and we think he's going to be a great fit to be the head coach of Arsenal women," said the club's chief executive Vinai Venkatesham.

"It was important that we found the right person to represent our club, both on the pitch and off the pitch.

"He's someone who likes to play on the front foot, high-tempo, attractive, attacking football.

"The thing that really came out in all of our interactions with Jonas is how much he wanted to join Arsenal and his desire to be part of this club, his desire to be part of our future and to help us deliver our ambitions going forward."

Arsenal have committed to constructing a new women's football building at their London Colney base where the men's and women's teams train.

The women's team backroom staff will also be increased with medical staff, a nutritionist, a development coach and a new head of sports medicine among the new jobs being created.

The club have also committed to hosting more women's matches at the Emirates Stadium.

"We invest millions of pounds a year into women's football and next year we're going to be investing much more than ever before," Venkatesham added.

"One of the first things that I did when I stepped into my new role was sit down with some of our women's players and staff.

"We decided to kick-off a review process of everything that we do at Arsenal women to think about how we can improve and how we can get better."