Arsenal progressed to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in dramatic fashion after a 1-1 (5-3) win over FC Porto on penalties. It took David Raya’s heroics in the shootout to help Mikel Arteta’s side progress, and alongside the players & fans, the WAGs of the players also seemingly became best pals.
A lot of anticipation was brewing for this match. With Arsenal not having qualified for a Champions League quarter-finals since 2010, the Gunners were desperate to break that curse. They had to fight hard in a chaotic, physical match but came out on top. The Emirates Stadium was buzzing with happiness and the players’ partners couldn’t contain their excitement either.
Role of Mikel Arteta in bringing Arsenal WAGs together
The partners of Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz were all seated together in the VIP section of the Emirates Stadium for the game.
It seems like Mikel Arteta is getting a lot of credit for ensuring that the partners of his top Arsenal players were all sitting together. The Arsenal gaffer is being praised for bringing a sense of unity within his squad to the point that the WAGs are as united as the players.
Trossard’s partner Laura Hilven posted pictures of the girls together on her Instagram with the caption: “Football never felt more than a family because of you girls.”
Now, it’s not like Arteta would’ve instructed these women to sit together to look good for a PR exercise. They did so on their own accord because of the family-like atmosphere within the squad.
After the final whistle , White and Trossard's wives and partners Bukayo , Martin and Kai celebrate as Arsenal reach the quarter-finals . They're always together , what an Arsenal family ! 🔅 In the back , I recognise White's father . pic.twitter.com/Ja0GvSqzO1
Arteta has shown an impressive man-management ability in uniting the entire squad. He has indulged the Arsenal stars to spend more time with each other and get to know themselves better.
The Arsenal gaffer even joked earlier this year after Oleksandr Zinchenko got into a heated moment with Ben White after the win over Nottingham Forest that the two were ‘sharing wives’ and ‘living together’.
While this was a joke, Arteta has ensured that his players and their loved ones can share a special bond that makes them want to fight for the club’s success.
Arteta also discreetly attempted to get the players’ families closer to each other in the club’s recent tour of Dubai during the Premier League winter break in January. He allowed the players to bring their partners or loved ones to the trip with the club. This not only allowed the footballers to spend more personal time with their WAG’s, but for the partners to also socialize with each other.
Arteta’s tactics definitely seem to be working as many of the major Arsenal stars’ WAGs seem to become besties, especially after that Dubai trip. The girls definitely had a blast watching their partners win the game for the Gunners, allowing them to go wild with excitement in the stands.
Which 5 Arsenal Wags were in attendance?
The pictures of the WAG’s celebrations indicates that around five of the Arsenal players’ partners were together for the FC Porto game. Trossard’s wife Laura Hilven seemed to be especially pumped in a game where the Belgian scored the only goal in normal time.
Hilven has been with Leandro since 2014 and the two met when he was playing for Belgian club Genk. The 31-year-old married Leandro in June, 2019 and the two share two sons, Thiago and Amadeo. Laura has over 17,500 followers on her Instagram, which she has put in private, only for her snaps from the Porto clash to get leaked anyway.
Hilven likes to live a pretty private life taking care of her children and travelling all around with Leandro. She also seems to be getting along really well with the other partners of Arsenal stars.
This includes Martin Odegaard’s girlfriend Helene Spilling. The two have been together for around a year now and Spilling is quite famous in her own profession.
Helene is a competitive dancer who has won the Norwegian Dance championship 17 times. Not just that, but she’s also represented Norway in the World and European Dance Championships. Helene has also been a part of the famous Norwegian TV show ‘Skal vi Danse?’ (Shall We Dance?), winning the 2021 edition with partner Simon Nitsche. She also has over 138,000 followers on her Instagram, where she often posts pictures of her modelling gigs too.
Bukayo Saka’s girlfriend Tolami Benson was also spotted having a good time among the WAGs. She has been with Bukayo for quite a few years now and is a British model/social media influencer.
Tolami has modeled for brands like Adidas, Puma and Nike – while also working as an influencer for brands. The 23-year-old has over 39,000 followers on Instagram and is occasionally seen attending Arsenal matches, as she did for the Porto clash.
Kai Havertz’s fiancé Sophia Weber also got some time to have fun with her new besties. Weber is a German model and a childhood sweetheart of Kai, having gotten engaged to him last year. The 24-year-old has nearly 400,000 Instagram followers, but likes to keep her private life with Havertz outside the public eye.
The wife of Ben White, Mily Adams, seemed to be having a blast with her buddies in the VIP box too. Adams got married to the Arsenal right-back last year and is a model with over 22,000 Instagram followers.
She isn’t really that proactive on social media, which made her presence in the group a bit of a breath of fresh air for fans. Arsenal are definitely flying high on confidence right now and that is because of how strongly bonded the squad is.
It now appears that not only the players, but also their beloved ones have become as strong as a family – giving them the ultimate motivation to get the club back to winning major trophies.
