Brighton midfielder Lia Walti has said she "missed the feeling of being valued as a footballer" during her season at Juventus, prompting her return to the Women's Super League this summer. The Switzerland captain left Arsenal, where she won four major trophies including the Champions League and WSL titles over seven years, to try Serie A Femminile, but found the gap in professionalism, facilities and fan culture too stark to stay long-term.

Walti, 33, made 183 appearances for Arsenal and has captained Switzerland at Euro 2025, joining Brighton last month for an undisclosed fee after just one season in Italy. She pointed to poor pitch quality, weak TV coverage and a near-total absence of fan culture in Italian women's football as key shortfalls, contrasting this with England's established stadium atmospheres and broadcast standards, while stressing she did not want to be overly critical of the Italian league.