If you’re a fan of Women’s Football in England, chances are that you’ve already heard the rumour that your club might be close to signing Swiss Youth Talent Malin Gut. Gut has been linked with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United. It is clear that her management is aiming for a top tier club with professional infrastructures to help her develop to the next level.  So let’s have a look at why she would be the ideal signing for any Women’s Superleague Club.

First let us look at the basics:

Malin Gut is 19 years old, stands at 1.70m and currently plays for Grasshoppers Club in Zurich as well as for the Swiss National Team. She is the spearhead of Switzerland’s first “Golden Generation” of Female Footballers, that includes the likes of Alisha Lehmann, currently at West Ham, Géraldine Reuteler from 1. FFC Frankfurt and Elvira Herzog from 1. FC Köln.

Malin plays mostly as a Defensive Midfielder, although she can also play as a Centre Back or a Number Eight. Her most identifying quality is the calmness with which she handles the ball, allowing her to find the best passing lanes and dodge opponent’s attacks. Next to that calmness, she has a good ability of moving through space, transporting the ball and her long passes, that can pin point a fellow player anywhere on the field.

Born on the Swiss National Holiday, August 1^st in 2000, Malin grew up in Lenzburg, a beautiful town outside of Zurich, and started playing with the boys of FC Fislisbach and FC Baden when she quickly was discovered by the Swiss Football Federation and included in their Footura project for gifted young female players.

A few weeks shy of her 15^th birthday the FC Zurich Frauen, the non-plus-ultra of women’s club football in Switzerland for the past decade, signed her to their Senior team straight away and Malin found herself playing for the National League team just a few weeks after.

Since then, five years have gone by and Malin has racked up an impressive palmares with 3 doubles (National League and Swiss Cup) and a total of 6 Titles.

Who is Malin Gut? The Swiss International has been making headlines linked to clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United

Now let us look at her stats:

Her first season 2015/16 saw her switching back and forth between the main team and Zurich’s Under 21 Team with her playing three games scoring her first two goals in top tier football before injury ruled her out for the rest of the season.

Fun Fact: That season Malin only missed FC Zurichs UWCL matchups against Danish champions Lillestrom SK Kvinner for being too young to get a license for the Women’s Champopns League.

2016/17 Breakthrough

The following season however allowed her to prove all the potential that had been shown in the few games she could play the year prior. She started a total of 19 games, scoring 6 goals. Next to the National League she also played 3 UWCL qualification games and both the Round of 32 legs against Sturm Graz and the Round of 16 against Lyon. Even though the FC Zurich Frauen ended up losing both the league and the cup final to FC Neunkirch,

2017/18 The Confirmation

With new Manager Luca Fiorini arriving in the summer, Malin saw her playing time at Zurich increasing even more, where she was now involved in 27 games, scoring 9 times and assisting three times. This is all while she was still in school, being the subject of a documentary series and captaining her U19 National Team at the home tournament, the UEFA U19 Euro Championships 2018.

One of the main reasons why she still remains in Switzerland after that tournament might be because she – usually a defensive midfielder – had to take up the command of the Swiss back four and act as a Centre Back due to fellow Footura star Julia Schassberger’s ACL tore. She still was able to impress, but gave international scouts no chance to see her in her accustomed position.

2018/19 The Centre Back Experience

One person she did impress however as CB was the new coach at FCZ. Andy Ladner, former FC Basel player, saw how Malin played in the summer tournament as CB and decided to play her as his CB of choice during the first half of the season 2018/19.

She played next to former FC Bayern Munich star Caroline Abbé and saw Zurich through an early confirmation of the title by March 2019. In that season she also managed to impress in the UWCL starting in all four of Zurich’s matches against FC Honka and FC Bayern Munich Frauen.

Autumn 2018 also saw Malin having her debut in the Swiss National Team. She breathed new life into Switzerland’s midfield during both legs of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualification Playoff against Belgium. Switzerland edged the Belgian Red Flames out of that round with two away goals by West Ham star Alisha Lehmann.

Malin ended up missing both Playoff Final games against the Netherlands and Switzerland ended up missing the tournament in France altogether. But that was the star for Malin’s international career. Now under new coach Nils Nielsen she has enjoyed 8 caps for Switzerland usually paired up with Arsenal midfielder Lia Wälti and once even captaining the team in two friendlies against Malta. Remember she is only 19!

2019/20 A New Club

Malin Gut’s potentially last season in Switzerland, 2019/20 was cut short due to the Covid-19 crisis. The Swiss Federation decided to cancel the Women’s leagues in their totality and Malin missed the chance to lead her new club, Grasshopers Club Zurich, to success.

Personally however, she managed to prove that she can stand out in a less well-oiled team than the FC Zürich Frauen. She started in 23 games, scoring 6 times and getting elected into the team of the Season. She was a leader and covered for some other Grasshoppers players such as Stefanie Da Eira and Caroline Müller, that missed a couple games due to injuries.

Malin Gut keeps proving her talent on all fronts and is on her way to become one of the best midfielders in the world. Now it’s up to the club that signs her to help her grow more into the role they need her to be in her team. The natural gift and the born leadership qualities will allow her to be decisive as a number 6 or number 8 wherever she decides to continue her career.

Well that’s it for the time being. Let’s hope for your sake, that your club is about to present her with a contract. I hope you liked the video. If you do so, be sure to like and share. And of course subscribe to Abseits on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. If you any questions, leave them in the comments below and enjoy your summer! See you all next season, bye!