The opening act
The Women’s Super League has been given quite the curtain-raiser. On Friday night, London City will welcome Manchester United to the CopperJax Community Stadium for the opening game of the 2026–27 season. A fixture like this would have been difficult to imagine a few years ago. Now, it feels like a sign of just how quickly the women’s game is changing.
London City finished sixth in their first WSL campaign last season. This summer, though, changed the conversation. Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, Mary Earps, Mapi León and Kadidiatou Diani have all arrived, and suddenly a club that was simply trying to establish itself in the WSL is being talked about as a potential title challenger.
The excitement is already showing in the stands. Friday’s opener is sold out, with more than 5,400 fans expected: the biggest crowd in London City’s short history. Now comes the harder part: figuring out exactly what this team can become.
From sixth place to title contenders?
Eder Maestre isn’t running from the expectations. Asked whether his squad has enough to challenge for the WSL title, the London City manager pointed to a straightforward mentality: every game starts with the belief that they can win it.
“When we plan every match, we really think that we are able to win the match,” he said.
But Maestre knows a collection of big names doesn’t automatically make a great team. “It’s going to be very difficult because it’s not only having this kind of talented players. You need to create something bigger: that identity, that working character.” And that might be the biggest question facing London City this season.
The squad is full of players who have won Champions Leagues, World Cups, domestic titles and individual honours. But none of those achievements can be transferred onto the pitch. Maestre now has to turn all that individual experience into something collective. He believes the foundations are already there.
“We finish[ed] the competition very strong,” he said, pointing to the team’s work without the ball last season. “So, if we can manage through this and start being more strong in possession moments… I will repeat a lot this sentence, but dream and make reality. I’m here to dream big.”
Alexia has arrived
Of course, there is one name that has changed the conversation around London City more than any other.
Putellas’ departure from Barcelona after 14 years is arguably the biggest individual signing in WSL history. She arrives in England with four Champions League titles, 10 Liga F titles and a World Cup already on her résumé. There is a difference between watching Putellas play and actually sharing a pitch with her. London City’s players are getting to experience that difference firsthand.
“I’ve watched it like a couple of times, and yes, she’s been amazing, but you realize how good she is when you actually train with her and play with her,” vice-captain Daniëlle van de Donk said. “She’s just really, really comfortable on the ball and she slows it down, but she also speeds it up whenever we need that. It’s just very intelligent.”
For van de Donk, that intelligence has already given her something to take into her own game. “I give it 100% and I just go, go, go, because that’s just who I am,” she said. “With her, sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh, you slow it down now?’ … So maybe I can add that to my game.” That might be Putellas’ biggest value to London City. She isn’t just the headline signing. With Kosovare Asllani absent, she has also been named captain and could become central to the possession-based football Maestre wants to build.
The next generation
For all the attention surrounding the club’s biggest names, London City’s younger players haven’t gone unnoticed. Van de Donk has been particularly impressed by their energy and willingness to learn. She pointed to players such as Freya Godfrey, who she said are receptive to advice and constantly looking for ways to improve.
“They want to be the best,” Van de Donk said. And that enthusiasm matters. The younger players, she added, “really lift up the team as well.” For a club trying to build something new, that mix of experience and youth could be just as important as the names on the team sheet.
Spanish influence, English roots
London City now have seven Spanish players in their squad, but Maestre is keen to make one thing clear: this isn’t an attempt to recreate Spanish football in England. Instead, he sees his own Basque background as a bridge between the two footballing cultures.
“Having more Spanish players will help us to reach the Spanish style, but we don’t want to lose the roots of the English football.” For Maestre, it also isn’t about keeping possession simply for the sake of it. It is about recognising what the game is giving you. “If the opponent is allowing us to exploit the spaces in behind, we are not going to be hesitant to exploit them.”
He doesn’t want direct football to become a “Plan B”. London City should be capable of using every part of their game.“The identity is not because only we want to win. It’s the way we want to win.” That identity will be tested immediately against Manchester United.
United aren’t intimidated
United arrive with a new manager of their own. Eva Olid has taken charge after five years at Hearts, where she helped take the Scottish club from the bottom of the table to a league title. United missed out on European football after finishing fourth last season, and their opening run offers little time to settle in. London City away is followed by Chelsea at home and Arsenal away.
Lea Schüller, however, isn’t complaining about the schedule. Asked what she thought when she saw those three fixtures, the German striker had a simple answer. “That’s why we play football, right? We want to play against the best.” She added: “We have to play them anyway, so it doesn’t matter if we play them in the beginning or at the end or in the middle.” For United, Friday isn’t about trying to avoid London City’s momentum. It is about testing themselves against it.
“I want to win it all”
If Maestre is dreaming big, van de Donk has no intention of lowering the bar. Asked whether London City’s realistic target should be a title, Champions League qualification, the FA Cup or League Cup, she laughed. “You asked the wrong person here because I want to win it all.”
That is the mentality London City are trying to build. They are no longer simply a newly promoted club looking to survive. They are trying to push their way into a hierarchy that has historically belonged to Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. Maestre knows how big that challenge is. “We are here to create something,” he said. “Something from nothing.”
The questions beyond the hype
For all the excitement, a transfer window can only answer so many questions. One of the biggest is van de Donk herself. The midfielder made just six WSL appearances last season but enters this campaign fully fit after a positive preseason.
“Last season has been rough,” she said. “I’m happy this preseason has gone very well and I get to enjoy football and just really ready to get going again.” At 35, her availability could be hugely important. Van de Donk brings technical quality, but also years of experience at the highest level; exactly the kind of experience London City will need as they try to close the gap on the WSL’s established contenders.
Then there is the defence.
A warning from Lyon
London City received their final reminder of just how high the bar is in their last preseason game. OL Lyonnes beat Maestre’s side 4–0 in the Mastercard Cup on August 29. The result itself isn’t necessarily a reason to panic. It was preseason and against one of Europe’s strongest teams.
Some of the goals, however, offered London City a glimpse of what happens when elite opposition is given an opening.Lyon’s first came after a poor distribution from Mary Earps, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto immediately turning the turnover into an assist for Weir. Two minutes into the second half, Dumornay pressed, won possession and went straight through to score. Against the best teams, small mistakes become goals.
That is particularly relevant for London City. Last season, they committed more Opta-defined defensive errors leading to goals and conceded more penalties than any other WSL side. Maestre’s philosophy demands aggression: press high, win the ball back quickly and spend as much time as possible in the opponent’s half. That also means being switched on the moment possession is lost. If London City want to go from sixth to the title conversation, they cannot give the WSL’s best teams the same opportunities Lyon found.
The attack may have enough talent to overwhelm opponents but the defence has to become good enough not to undo it. The Lyon defeat also adds another layer to London City’s rapidly changing story. Michele Kang owns both London City Lionesses and OL Lyonnes, meaning that if London City eventually reach the Champions League, UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules could become relevant.
That isn’t an immediate concern as London City aren’t in Europe this season but it is an unusual potential complication for a club whose ambitions have changed so quickly. For now, Maestre isn’t looking that far ahead. “We are here to win games,” he said when asked about Champions League qualification. “The consequence of winning games will push us… in that Champions League.”
The first real test
Manchester United is the perfect place to start. United’s Schüller was asked about a schedule that sends her team to London City before Chelsea and Arsenal. Her answer said plenty about the mood inside the United camp. “That’s why we play football, right? We want to play against the best.”
London City want to become one of the best.
The names and investment are definitely there but against Lyon, it showed that there is still work to do. Maestre has to turn an elite collection of players into an elite team and, more importantly, one capable of staying together when the best teams in Europe inevitably test every weakness.
If London City really do want to win it all, that 4–0 defeat cannot simply be a warning they admire, it has to become one they learn from.
Text: Fleur Dias
