As the Women’s Super League teams begin to return for training camp, there are plenty of new faces in the mix. The league’s transfer window remains open until September 3, but enough moves have been made that each team’s roster is coming into focus.
Manchester City
The Blues accomplished the most critical task of their offseason: re-signing WSL leading goalscorer Bunny Shaw. The question of whether the Jamaican striker would be staying at the club nearly overshadowed her side winning the league for only the second time in their history.
Led by keeping Shaw, it seems that the front office has decided to mostly keep his league-winning side intact, at least for the time being. The league winners will be bolstered by the additions of Beth Mead and Niamh Charles, from Arsenal and Chelsea respectively, who both bring years of experience and winning ways to City.
However, the team is likely to lose a key part of their attack this summer, with recent reports of a deal being finalized to bring Brazilian attacker Kerolin to Barcelona. Despite having two years left on her contract, Barcelona are reportedly offering Man City €1.5 million in exchange for the Brazilian forward. Andrée Zeglertz’s side will have to rely on new talent alongside veteran star forwards Vivienne Miedma and Shaw to build upon their success from last season.
Arsenal
The Champions League semifinalists have had a busy summer, which was key considering they needed to replace the likes of Beth Mead and Katie McCabe. The Gooners acquired England star midfielder and former Manchester City player Georgia Stanway from Bayern, a needed addition to work with fellow midfielders Kim Little and Mariona Caldentey. Stanway will combine with newly acquired Spanish and Barça star Ona Batlle to create a dangerous Arsenal attack.
Austrian goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger left the club after seven seasons, leaving a hole which Arsenal have signed Spanish goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez out of Real Madrid to fill. Rodriguez is a rising Spanish star, competing with Barcelona goalkeeper Cata Coll for the starting goalkeeper position with the national team.
The Gooners have also recently added young talent in German forward Lisa Baum and Danish goalkeeper Isabella Damm.
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Chelsea
Despite losing Catarina Macario, Sam Kerr, and Guro Reiten to the NWSL, Chelsea is looking strong going into the upcoming season. The club will look to rebound from their third-place finish last year, their lowest finish in recent memory.
Chelsea has done what Chelsea does best: bringing in big names. French forward Melvine Mallard arrives from Manchester United and Irish captain Katie McCabe joins from Arsenal.
NWSL fans will be familiar with a key Chelsea signing this summer: Japanese midfielder Manaka Matsukubo. The 2025 NWSL Midfielder of the Year signed a five-year contract with the Blues, and will bring her goalscoring abilities and movement off the ball to the London side.
The historically dominant side extended contracts for Lucy Bronze, Lauren James, and Aggie Beever-Jones, among others who will hope to restore Chelsea to its former glory.
Manchester United
The personnel woes of manager Marc Skinner’s side continue into this summer’s transfer window. The Reds have lost many of their core players, headlined by longtime defender Millie Turner and attacking star Melvine Mallard. Leah Galton and Hannah Blundell have also left the club upon the expiration of their contracts.
In terms of bolstering the squad, Marc Skinner’s side has not had as much activity as many fans had hoped, only signing Spanish defender Andrea Medina from Real Madrid so far. Medina will add versatility in her positioning and depth to the defensive line. While the club possesses a strong midfield in Ella Toone, Hinata Miyazawa, and Jess Park, bringing in more players would enable rest and larger versatility for the current squad. Skinner’s squad will need to step it up before the window closes in order to build upon the fourth-place finish of last year’s campaign.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur recently broke their transfer record to sign French defender Alice Sombath from OL Lyonnes. The young talent will hope to develop her skill as she adds to the success of the team, which finished fifth place this past WSL season.
Tottenham have seemed to take a middle-of-the-road approach to the transfer window, signing six new players including Sombath, parting ways with a number of players including striker Bethany England, and re-signing a significant number of their current squad as well. The team will look to continue their success from last season’s campaign, when they finished just four points behind fourth-place Manchester United.
London City Lionesses
Michelle Kang’s London side made a slew of signings this summer, with big names, a big wallet, and an ambition to go far. The Lionesses will look to improve upon their sixth-place WSL finish and aim for Champions League qualification this season as well.
Longtime Barcelona stars Alexia Putellas and Mapi Leon reunite in London under head coach Eder Maestre. The two have a combined over 650 caps for Barcelona, but both were free agents at the end of last year. In what is becoming a trend among former Barça players departing for England, the two stars reunite with three former teammates at London City. Putellas is an especially huge signing for London City — La Reina will add goals, talent, visibility, and the possibility for the club to match their ambitions with results in her first year with the club.
French winger Kadidiatou Diani, goalkeeper Mary Earps, and versatile Danish international Janni Thomsen round out the new additions to the squad. They will join the likes of Swedish forward Kosovo Asllani and French stars Delphine Cascarino and Grace Geyoro. Kang’s side being the only fully-independent women’s professional club in England’s top two tiers allows for financial freedom that is rarely matched in the WSL.
The 2025 sixth-place team are only in their second year in England’s top women’s league and it remains to be seen whether they can form a coherent identity on and off the pitch to find greatness in England and abroad. After this window, they look to have the pieces to make it happen.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton entered this offseason bolstered by some exciting developments, the first being that it was announced that the club is constructing the first dedicated women’s stadium in Europe. Secondly, the club made it to the FA Cup final, a first for the club and an exciting landmark in the history of the team. While they fell to eventual league winners Manchester City, the Seagulls will look to continue their momentum into this upcoming season.
The team has so far brought in a mix of experience and youth, headlined by the signing of former Arsenal midfielder Lia Wälti from Juventus and bringing up Sophie Peskett from WSL2. These two will combine with WSL debutantes Emilie Joramo and Nadia Krezyman as Brighton aims to continue their success under Dario Vidošić.
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Everton
Everton women’s side have picked up five new additions while losing quite a few players as well. Right-back Hannah Blundell returns to the team after representing them on loan this season, to which her involvement yielded positive results. She said it was “an easy decision” to return to play for Everton under coach Scott Phelan.
“As soon as I knew Scott was going to be the manager, it was an easy decision for me to stay. I am really excited to get going,” Blundell told Evertontv. “I want to play alongside these players. The girls are fantastic.”
Phelan’s side also made a splash by signing two-time A-league Golden Boot winner Holly McNamara, who has the potential, alongside fellow attacking signings, to improve on the club’s eighth place finish last season. While the club lacks the star power to consistently compete with the traditional “big 3” of the WSL, look to the Merseyside club to have success on a weekly basis and shake up some standings.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa looked to fellow European clubs to bolster their roster this offseason. The Villans received Denmark international Amalie Vangsgaard and Norway international Mathilde Harviken. The two last played at Juventus, where they won the 2025 Serie A title. Vansgaard will join new signings Mia McAulay and Kamilla Melgard in the attack, which is led by veteran striker and team captain Rachel Daly. Harviken will join the defensive side of things alongside defensive midfielder Justine Kielland and goalkeeper acquisitions Akane Okuma and Emily Ramsey.
While the team struggled in the previous season’s campaign, the club has big ambitions that will hopefully be bolstered by this summer’s additions. Vansgaard noted, “I think the whole project around Aston Villa is really cool. The goals they have for the future is a cool journey to be jumping on to. I’ll do my best to get as high in the league as possible.”
West Ham
The East London side have had an extremely ambitious summer so far, acquiring nine new players, including forward Ebony Salmon from Aston Villa, veteran defender Katie Zelem from London City Lionesses, and Estelle Cascarino from Juventus.
However those additions came in part because a significant portion of the roster left in the offseason. In discussing the departures, manager Rita Guarino commented, “Getting the right players in the right positions is important, but also making sure the person behind the player is aligned with our values and philosophy. I’m very happy with the signings we’ve made so far.”
Guarino will look to build upon the stability of the second half of last season, during which she focused on cementing the team’s defensive efforts. Now, with her first full offseason under her belt, Guarino and the new-look squad will look to come out strong at the onset of the 2026-2027 campaign.
Liverpool
The recent abrupt departure of Denise O’Sullivan may have been one of the most surprising moves of the offseason, and will be a blow to a Liverpool side that struggled in the past season. However, the team has bolstered their backcourt, signing England goalkeeper Khiara Keating from Manchester City and defender Mari Ward from Bristol City.
Gareth Taylor’s side also just announced the exciting acquisition of 19-year-old Japanese midfielder and the 2025-2026 player of the year for the Eredivisie Dutch League, Mao Itamura. The young midfielder brings explosive dribbling prowess as well as excellent decision-making in the final third to the club’s attack. Itamura will join new signings Viviene Endemann and a re-signed Lucy Parry for this upcoming season.
Birmingham City
Newly-promoted Birmingham City are wasting no time in assembling a WSL-worthy squad, recently signing Katie Startup, formerly Manchester City’s backup goalkeeper, to a two-year contract. The side also received a powerful duo in defender Millie Turner and forward Lisa Naalsund from Manchester United.
Birmingham joining the WSL after a five-year absence offers the opportunity for many players to play in a league they have always dreamt of joining. After signing with the squad this summer, Canadian international Marie Levasseur told BBCSport, “I’ve always wanted to play in the WSL. I think it’s one of the best leagues nowadays on the women’s side.” Coming off a successful WSL2 campaign, manager Amy Merricks and squad will look to continue their ambitious ways in England’s top league.
Crystal Palace
Bethany England will be a welcome addition to Crystal Palace, with the potential to net goals for the recently-promoted side. England, having played for many years at the WSL level, will provide valuable leadership and experience for manager Jo Potter’s front line. England is joined in the attack by fellow newcomer Lexi Lloyd-Smith, who won the WSL2 Golden Boot last year with Bristol City.
Otherwise, the club has opted to mainly nail down many of the current players at the club, extending or resigning the contracts of six players this summer. While the club had a good run in the WSL2, finishing second behind a strong attack, the previous WSL campaign in 2024-2025, which earned the club’s relegation, saw the club falter and only win two league games. In their return to the top tier, they’ll be eager to do better.
Charlton Athletic
The newly-promoted side may face challenges in its inaugural year, as the club has mainly chosen to rely on the players that got them the promotion, re-signing nine current rostered players. The only addition so far has been Australian midfielder Grace Johnston.
For a side that barely qualified given the recent expansion of the WSL to fourteen teams, the team will be challenged and face a significant uphill climb, especially since they already had one of the lowest budgets in the WSL2.
However, manager Karen Hills led her team to unlikely success last season, going on a 27-game unbeaten run and at one point having conceded the league’s fewest goals. When asked if her team is ready for the WSL, Hills told BBC Sport, “I’ve done it before and that league is very different to what the WSL2 is. You’ve got to pick the games and be realistic. The biggest thing is to be sustainable.”
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