'Shocking decision' for Arsenal to let Miedema go - White

Vivianne Miedema joined Arsenal from Bayern Munich in 2017

Arsenal's decision not to renew Vivianne Miedema's contract is "absolutely shocking", according to former Gunners forward Ellen White.

The club announced on Monday that the Netherlands international will leave at the end of the season after seven years.

The 27-year-old is the all-time top-scorer in the Women's Super League with 79 goals and has scored 125 in total and provided 50 assists in 172 appearances for Arsenal.

"I think it’s an absolutely shocking decision by the club to be honest," White told BBC Radio 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly.

"To not offer her a new contract, to not show her love and desire to keep her at the club, to not build a team around Vivianne Miedema."

Miedema won the Women's Super League title in 2018-19 and three Women's League Cups during her time in north London.

She has also lifted the Golden Boot - the award for the most goals scored in a single season - twice.

"I just think it’s shocking that they haven’t shown her the love to want to keep her at the club," added White.

"If she does want to go to someone else in the WSL, I hope she goes to that team and sticks two fingers up at Arsenal and scores a few goals and celebrates hard.

"She is 27. If she wants to continue to play she could play for a number of years and she still has records to break. It’s just outrageous.

"She is not going to be short of offers. I hope she has got loads of offers. Her being on a free you would hope she would then get the contract that she deserves."

'Arsenal fans will hope it doesn’t come back to bite them'

Aston Villa and Scotland captain Rachel Corsie agreed with White, saying news of Miedema's departure "has shocked a lot of people".

"She is still such a good player, she is young and has many many years left to go," said Corsie. "She has been a huge servant for Arsenal.

"I think a lot of people are surprised purely because she might go on to a rival team. I think Arsenal fans will hope that it doesn’t come back to bite them."

In September, Arsenal suffered a shock exit in the qualifying stages of the Women's Champions League as they were beaten on penalties by French side Paris FC and Corsie speculated as to whether the decision to let Miedema go comes down to financial reasons.

"I don’t want the financial reasons to be an excuse because when we’re talking about a club Arsenal, we know that the budget is big enough and you should want to keep and find a way to keep your best players," added Corsie.

"I don’t know if going out of the Champions League as early as they did hurt Arsenal because I imagine they budgeted for certainly progressing further than they did."