Tottenham Hotspur Women announced that Olga Ahtinen has signed a new, long-term contract with the club. The 28-year-old Finnish midfielder has been deployed all across the pitch and is a useful squad player.
Olga joined the club in Fall 2023 from Linköping FC, where she’d just come off of a season where she was named best midfielder in the league. She shone for Spurs in her first half-season until a knee injury sidelined her for a few months. She hasn’t quite reached those heights since she returned, but Olga is still a useful squad player. Under Robert Vilahamn, with whom she first signed, she was primarily deployed as eight. Martin Ho uses her much more liberally – on the wings, also as a number eight, and occasionally as a sort of DM.
“Olga brings a strong mentality every day, trains with purpose, and has the technical quality, work ethic and tactical understanding to keep growing within the direction we are building,” manager Martin Ho said, on the subject of Olga’s new contract. “We believe there is still more to come from her, and we are excited to continue supporting her development as an important part of our squad moving forward.”
Olga hasn’t played many minutes these past few seasons, which is not great news for the sliver of hope I’m still holding that she regains enough fitness and confidence to be the player we saw when she first came to Spurs. That said, her versatility, consistency and her apparent positive and professional attitude make her a player worth keeping around.