‘It doesn’t help to force a player to stay’

Aston Villa boss Natalia Arroyo said she doesn’t want to “push any player to stay” after the departure of forward Adriana Leon earlier this week.

Canada international Leon, 32, joined the San Diego Wave for an undisclosed fee on Monday.

Arroyo said Leon had been wanting to move closer to her home country and to be able to play again in the USA’s National Women’s Soccer League.

“Where a player is thinking other things, in my experience it doesn’t help to force them to stay even if they are very good,” Arroyo said, speaking in her pre-match news conference before Aston Villa host Everton on Sunday (14:00 GMT).

“We have the skills to still be an attacking team and whatever we lack we will find in the next window.”

“Today, in the women’s game, we are starting to see these kind of movements when players are out of contract in the summer, [moving in] the window in the winter – with some markets being very, very aggressive.

“It’s an opportunity for the clubs and we’ve got to accept that.”

Here are some more key lines from her news conference before Sunday’s Women’s Super League game:

• Everybody is “fine” and “fit” after the international break, with the same players being available as before the break.

• Rachel Corsie, Lucy Staniforth and Maz Pachecho are “close” to returning from injury, but still a few weeks from being fully fit.

• Arroyo said Everton will be a “tough” opponent who are “one of the most creative and dynamic teams in this league.”

• She wants her side to replicate the “feeling, energy and passion” they had out of possession against Chelsea and Brighton.

• The starting point has been “good” since she took over as manager but she is not trying to “set the bar a bit higher.”