‘Una historia perfecta’: A perfect story.
That is how Alexia Putellas described her time at Barcelona in a video announcing her departure from the club. The two-time Ballon d’Or winner finishes her time in Catalonia with 232 goals in 508 appearances, ten league titles and four Champions Leagues.
That most recent Champions League title, and consequent award of Champions League Player of the Season, came last weekend under the watchful eye of Lyon owner Michele Kang.
Kang was no doubt keeping a keen eye on Alexia, given that her rumoured next destination is Kang’s English club, London City Lionesses.
The possibility has caused more than a few titters online. With London City Lionesses playing their home games at Hayes Lane in Bromley, the thought of La Reina walking around The Glades shopping centre feels particularly incongruous.
Founded seven years ago, when they took over Millwall’s licence in the second division, London City Lionesses have been on a supercharged trajectory since they were taken over by Kang at the end of 2023.
The American-Korean billionaire, who made her money in healthcare, is a self-described latecomer to football. After discovering the sport following the United States’ 2019 World Cup win, she first bought Washington Spirit in the NWSL. Then came an investment in Lyon which grew into a majority stake, and finally the purchase of London City Lionesses in the WSL.
Kynisca, the name given to her multi-club group, is not the only one of its kind in the women’s game but it is the most prominent. It is powered by the ethos that given the neglect of women’s football, it is better to pool knowledge on everything from sports science to commercial strategy, using fewer resources to generate greater insight.
The concept is the manifestation of the oft-repeated idea that the women’s game does not need to and indeed should not try to match the men’s game.
This week in London, another offshoot of that philosophy arrived in the form of World 7s. The third iteration of the seven-a-side tournament featuring professional teams took place at the Brentford Community Stadium. A WSL only event, eight sides from the league took to a smaller pitch in thirty-minute games with rolling substitutes. It is an easy concept to feel cynical about until you see how much the players enjoy it. The fact that it left people, who did not care about women’s football anyway, sure that women’s football had been set back by some silly player entrances, has only enhanced its reputation.
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It was no surprise to see London City Lionesses competing in it, although they crashed out on the first day following losses to Everton and Leicester City. The tournament was eventually won by Chelsea who beat Manchester United 6-5 in the final, thanks to Aggie Beever-Jones, who might well be the best seven-a-side player in the world.
The stated aim of Kang and London City Lionesses has been to become the best team in England. It is for that reason, and with an eye on Champions League qualification, that they have been lobbying Uefa to have different rules for multi-club ownership groups in the women’s game. Nadine Kessler, Uefa’s head of women’s football, insisted recently that its regulations would not change, claiming it would affect “sporting integrity”.
London City Lionesses look far from making it an issue that Uefa have to decide on. They finished sixth in the league, an admirable feat in a first season in the top division, but were 22 points off the Champions League spots. A mid-season managerial change which saw former Paris Saint-Germain coach Jocelyn Prêcheur sacked and Tenerife manager Eder Maestre take his place, failed to pay off. Maestre won only three of the 11 league games he was at the helm for, although a draw against Chelsea was a bright spot.
With pockets as deep as Kang’s – the club made a loss of £10.6m in the 2023/24 season with revenue not even hitting £1m – the answer to bridging that gap will come in the form of significant player spending. And she has trained her sights on the most famous player in world football, available for free now her contract has run out, Alexia Putellas.
London City Lionesses transfer approach has been scattergun. They spent around £1million on Grace Geyoro last summer, making the one goal she scored in the league expensive. Younger signings like Freya Godfrey and Lucia Corrales have been more successful but the club have appeared torn between bringing in experience and developing talent. The move for Alexia leans towards the former, as would bringing in another Barcelona player, centre-back Mapi Leon, who has also been linked. But at 32 years old, and still starring for the best team in Europe, Alexia exists in her own stratosphere as a market opportunity.
What Alexia undeniably brings is star power. As a new team in a very crowded London market - the city will have seven teams in the WSL next year - London City Lionesses have focused less on attracting repeat fans, and more on the ‘daytrippers’. The opportunity to see arguably the greatest player of all time is certainly a way to get people through the turnstiles once or twice a season.
Whether she picks them is another question. Alexia is thought to have a range of offers from clubs in Europe and the United States, and is keen to sign for a club that are not in direct competition with Barcelona. The optics of London City Lionesses are twofold. On the one hand, testing herself in the most competitive league in the world is certainly a new challenge. On the other, she could clearly play at a higher-level than a mid-table WSL side, with the pull then looking more financial than sporting. Alexia alone probably does not move the needle enough for Kang’s side to scale the top four. But with Alexia at the club, the pull of the team for players and sponsors will only grow.
Photograph by Judit Cartiel/Getty Images