Viktoria Schnaderbeck says ‘there’s much more to come’ from her after agreeing a new contract with Arsenal Women.

Schnaerbeck struggled with injuries during her debut season in north London as the Gunners went on to win the Women’s Super League title, but she played 17 times in all competitions during the curtailed 2019-20 season.

Speaking to Arsenal.Com the Austrian international said: “It’s always hard to come back after injury because it takes a lot of time and patience.

“This year was very important for me, but I still think there is so much more to come personally and I also believe I can learn so much from my amazing teammates, on the pitch and off the pitch. They’re amazing people as well as players.

“I’m feeling really fit at the moment too, but right now I’m just enjoying my time off and having some holidays in Austria with my family and friends, but I was lucky to keep my motivation to continue training and maintain my fitness. I think the mental aspect was very important to keep myself fit and healthy.

“The off-season will be different this year, for sure, but I think now it will be even more important to have a proper pre-season to meet again, be together as a team and work on all the things we’ve been analysing over the past few months. I can’t wait to be back and start training again, not alone, but with my teammates again.

“We want to improve both individually and as a team, and that’s a big motivation for me. We want to bounce back as a team.”

Talking about her new contract she added: “I’m truly happy to finally make it official. It just feels so right to stay with this club with the philosophy, with the staff and players, and it’s both the big picture and the small details that feel right.

“Thankfully the most important conversations and discussions were handled before coronavirus, so it was more the formal things and smaller details that needed to be discussed and clarified during lockdown. It was very important that I had a good feeling at the start of coronavirus when I didn’t have as much to think about.”

Schnaderbeck went on to discuss her standout moments in north London so far, saying: “My outstanding memories are, of course, winning the league and also more generally having so many special memories with teammates and staff that I will keep forever in my mind.

“That’s amazing to me, but all the things connected with it too, like my comeback from injury against Liverpool this season. That’s a very important memory to me.”

Manager Joe Montemurro expressed his delight at Schnaderbeck remaining at the club, adding: “I’m really delighted to have Viki stay with us. She’s obviously a player of great pedigree and really coming good towards the season that’s just been completed. We’re really looking forward to her being an important player for us going forward in big games.

“Her attitude and professionalism are two great words that are synonymous to the type of player she is. She’s a really experienced professional who is always willing to work for the team and go that extra mile to help someone out.

“So she really personifies what we’re trying to achieve and she’s also an amazing character. She’s an amazing person and she’s always willing to test her standards and keep those standards high, so we’re ecstatic to retain her at Arsenal.”

Talking about what he believes her best position to be, Montemurro said: “I think she’s definitely best in the central defence area where she’s good at constructing and building play, but she’s also very, very good in the phases of non-possession when we need to organise and set up for transition moments that could be a problem when the other team has the ball.

“One on one she’s very good and in set plays she’s very effective too, and with the ball she’s very intelligent in picking the moments of when we can go forward or when we need to prepare to go forward. She suits our style to a tee and we’re really looking forward to seeing the best of her.”

The Australian also went on to talk about how the deal was done due to ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, explaining: “It hasn’t been the standard ‘come in and let’s have a chat in the office’ and all the normal processes, so obviously everything has been done online and we’ve hosted all our discussions and negotiations there.

“Viki was one we targeted knowing that she was running out of contract, but we really wanted to give her the opportunity to take the next step and obviously she was hampered with injuries in year one and we didn’t get to see the best of her.

“But now from a conditioning perspective going forward we think we’re going to see the best of Viki and we’re really looking forward to it.”