ZURICH – England’s Euro hopes were hanging by a thread before Michelle Agyemang’s introduction against Sweden.
At 70 minutes, the Lionesses were on the verge of crashing out before the 19-year-old burst on, enjoyed a close-up view of Lucy Bronze’s header and then poked in the equaliser to take the game to penalties on just her third international cap.
The Arsenal striker’s impact has almost been without precedent. In April, she scored a spectacular volley within 41 seconds of her debut against Belgium but she has already surpassed that with one of the most dramatic introductions in Euros history.
“Her raw pace is frightening,” Helen Ward, Watford’s general manager who worked with her during a loan spell, tells The i Paper. “Her strength and power as well, but she’s about more than that. Her technical ability is sensational. The fact she’s got that in her locker shows the potential of the player – she’s an all-rounder.”
The story so far
It is hard to think of many WSL players whose rise has been so hotly anticipated. Agyemang was just six years old, playing on the small-sided pitches of Brandon Groves FC in Essex, when she was spotted by Arsenal.
At 16, she was in the Gunners’ first team while studying for her A-Levels. The moment she turned 18, she signed her first professional deal. Despite all the hype, those who know her note she is well-grounded, polite but reserved and deeply rooted in her Christian faith.
As a schoolgirl she was glued to the TV with her family during the summer of 2022, watching her heroes lift the European Championship at Wembley. I asked her if she thought she imagined that three years later, she would be their teammate. “Probably not!” she laughed.
It was a tremendous punt from Sarina Wiegman to take her to this summer’s tournament when at the time of naming the squad, Agyemang had only made one appearance.
Behind the scenes, however, the Lionesses boss had seen enough to convince her it was worth a shot.
“What Sarina and her staff will be picking up is yes, she can score a wonder goal but it’s how you are as a person, your character, how you’re fitting in with the team,” ex-England forward Rachel Yankey tells The i Paper.
Last season on loan at Brighton, Agyemang contributed three goals and an assist, but impressed beyond her stats.
“She’s very strong, very direct, very powerful,” recalls Fran Kirby, who played alongside her in that Albion team.
“When she strikes the ball, I don’t think there’s many goalkeepers that can save it, to be honest. And she wants to learn. She wants to listen to you. She wants to take your advice.”
Nikita Parris, who likewise played next to her in attack, praised her “potential” and said she “showed glimpses of what her talent can bring”.
‘She just bodies people’
One of the quirks of England’s never-say-die performance in the last eight was the revolving door of veterans and starlets who made it happen. A timeless, immortal Bronze took the decisive penalty, but the shootout wouldn’t have transpired at all without Agyemang.
Bronze remembers playing against her in domestic football and better than anyone, she knows what a handful she can be.
“She just runs into people and bodies them because she’s so strong,” Bronze says.
“She’s probably one of my favourite ones to play against because I can just run into her dead hard. She likes to give it back and I think she’s been told [in training] that she needs to go a little bit easier but I said no, just keep it up, I prefer it. I want you to give everything.”
In the group stage defeat to France, Agyemang was England’s best hope of a late goal but arguably came on too late. Wiegman tends to turn to her when her team are struggling because she offers a threat distinct from Alessia Russo and Aggie Beever-Jones – though Agyemang herself is still establishing exactly what kind of player she wants to become.
“The term ‘traditional No 9 is kind of subjective, I think,” she says.
“I guess over the last season, I’ve been playing across the front three, so no matter where I am I want to be effective and in terms of number 9, it’s about scoring goals, so that’s what I want to do.”
The one thing she is coy on is the question her idols. She wants to be a “unique player” and won’t be mimicking any famous celebrations. “I always used to find it quite embarrassing,” she insists.
“When I did celebrate I’d always look back and think it was really cringe. So I refrain from celebrating. If it comes out, if it comes out.”
The season Agyemang caught fire
Agyemang might be even further along on her trajectory had her early career not been interrupted by a couple of knee injuries. Nevertheless there was one occasion at Watford in the 2023-24 campaign, after signing as a dual registration player (meaning she was still on Arsenal’s books), when she demonstrated just how dramatically she could change a match.
“She’d come back from an injury and was allowed 20 minutes max,” recalls Ward.
“As soon as that 70 minutes came up, our head coach put her on and she scored two goals and turned the game on its head. We won the game 2-0 against Birmingham who were trying to win the league at that point, she absolutely ruined them with her pace.
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“She was very down to earth, hard-working, takes her craft seriously. She’s quite a deep thinker as well, which isn’t a bad thing – but sometimes you had to put your arm around her and say, ‘it’s ok, you can’t expect the world now and it’s not all going to happen at once, but you’re doing great’.”
Agyemang may have actually benefited from not being the sole attacking focus at Brighton. “She was getting exposed to top-level football with some really good teammates,” says Ward, “but probably not under the pressure of being the out-and-out number one forward which she was at Watford. There was a lot of expectation put on her due to her ability.”
That is only going to grow and grow now.
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