Manchester City have seen some significant change this summer ahead of the 2022-23 Women’s Super League season, with Euro 2022 heroes Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway moving on to different challenges.
Both players played in every single match at the Euros last month but the pair waved their goodbyes to the 2016 WSL title winners before the historic tournament kicked off. And following the Lionesses' outstanding performances, City fans have seen further evidence of what they will be missing for the upcoming campaign, losing two of the best talents in the WSL.
Manager Gareth Taylor has also had to deal with other key senior personnel leaving as goalkeeper Karen Bardsley decided to hang up her gloves, while Caroline Weir moved to Real Madrid and Jill Scott was released after spending time on loan at Aston Villa in 2021-22. However, the club reacted swiftly to bring in six players with the most prominent arriving from Spain.
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They have signed Atletico Madrid striker Deyna Castellanos, who is captain of the Venezuela national team and scored 26 goals during her two years in the Spanish capital. City also acquired her teammate, right-back Laia Aleixandri, who can also fill in at centre-back and she is a direct replacement for Bronze. The other import from Spain was another defender, Leila Ouhabi from Barcelona.
While City have done well to ensure that there is still depth in Taylor’s squad as the season opener approaches, they simply cannot afford to lose any more of their star assets. This follows the club rejecting two bids from Barcelona for England international midfielder Keira Walsh, who was one of the standout performers at Euro 2022.
City have now gone six years without winning the league title, and that has largely been down to the dominance of Emma Hayes’ Chelsea, who have now won it for three consecutive years. City were able to rally after a slow start to 2021-22, eventually finishing third, but while that gave them a chance at qualifying for this year’s Champions League, that dream was shattered on Sunday as they were eliminated by Real Madrid, with former player Weir scoring the only goal of the game.
This will intensify the pressure on Taylor to close the gap on both Chelsea and Arsenal this term because they will not have to worry about the extra games that European football would provide. Given that the club have rejected Barca’s offers for Walsh, it’s fair to assume that Taylor views the 25-year-old as invaluable and integral to the team. We saw during the Euros how much of a commanding presence she has in the midfield. She has an astonishing passing range, which was best demonstrated when she set up Ella Toone for the opener in the final against Germany.
A player of her quality will rightly attract interest from clubs who have enjoyed success on the European stage, but for City to lay a glove on Chelsea this year they need Walsh. They will also need former England skipper Steph Houghton to be back on form after recovering from an ankle injury that has ruled her out of action since January. The club captain returning will provide a massive boost to Taylor and the dressing room, and her qualities as a leader will have a positive impact on the pitch. Considering she is 34 years of age now, it will likely not be long before Houghton calls time on her career, and Walsh would appear to be the perfect candidate to succeed her.
Regardless of what may happen in the future, what is important now is that City get both these players fit and firing so that they can close the gap on their title rivals. With both offering quality and experience to Taylor’s side, it is going to be interesting how they start the season following some key departures. But most importantly they need to show how much they have evolved over the last two years under his stewardship, and that cannot be as effective if they were to lose another star in Walsh.
