Women’s Super League: Five Exciting Signings to Watch in 2024-25

Ahead of the new 2024-25 English Women’s Super League season, we look at five players who have made moves within or into the WSL this summer.

Pre-season is over and the English Women’s Super League is set to begin on Friday night with Chelsea hosting Aston Villa. The summer transfer window was once again a hive of activity, with incomings and outgoings across the division; among them, some very high-profile names have entered (or re-entered) the league.

Here, we look at five (potentially) transformative signings by WSL clubs this summer who we’re looking forward to watching.

Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal to Manchester City)

Easily one of the biggest transfers across women’s club football this summer, Vivianne Miedema has left Arsenal to join Manchester City. After seven years in London with the Gunners and countless records to her name, the 26-year-old striker will form a formidable strike partnership with Khadija Shaw.

Miedema’s exploits in the WSL need little introduction. Currently the all-time top goalscorer in Women’s Super League history, she has 80 goals and a further 35 assists in 106 appearances. Those numbers have seen her average a goal involvement in the WSL every 71 minutes since making her debut in 2017-18. Ten of her goal involvements came in a famous appearance versus Bristol City in 2019-20, when she scored six and created another four in Arsenal’s 11-1 win.

Over the years, the former Bayern Munich striker has evolved into a perfect mix of a number 9 and 10, combining the goalscoring prowess of a leading striker with the creative ability of a deeper-lying forward. While an ACL injury kept her out for the last two seasons, Miedema produced four consecutive seasons with 20 goal contributions prior to that. 

One of the most intelligent forwards that the WSL has ever seen, Miedema will be a big asset to Manchester City and their title hopes in 2024-25 if she can stay injury-free. It also gives City another option in attack should they need to rotate the frontline and give Shaw some rest.

With the additions of Miedema and Aoba Fujino, City have some serious firepower in attack. The prospect of a potential front line of Lauren Hemp, Vivianne Miedema, Mary Fowler and Shaw along with Jess Park, Chloe Kelly and Fujino, spells danger for any opposition. 

Man City lost the title to Chelsea on goal difference last season. They have made sure there won’t be a lack of goals this time around.

Elisabeth Terland (Brighton to Manchester United)

Elisabeth Terland has been one of the best forwards in the league since her arrival in the 2022-23 season. The Norwegian kept Brighton afloat in the competition thanks to her excellent output. Last season she scored 50% of Brighton’s league goals (13 of 26), the highest such share by any player in the competition.

Manchester United struggled to find a consistent goalscorer last season in the WSL, with Nikita Parris their top scorer with eight goals – five fewer than Terland’s tally. Her 3.6 non-penalty shots per 90 were the fifth highest among players to play at least 1,000 WSL minutes last season, but her conversion rate (18.3%) was among the best of the top-scoring players.

No Man Utd player tallied an expected goals total higher than 4.4 last season, with Terland nearly doubling that (8.3) in a far less fancied side. True, Terland benefitted from being the talismanic figure in attack for Brighton, but her signing should finally fill the void left by Alessia Russo after she left for Arsenal in July 2023.

Lucy Bronze (Barcelona to Chelsea)

After winning back-to-back UEFA Women’s Champions League titles with Barcelona – beating Chelsea in the process – Lucy Bronze has decided to embark on a new challenge in London. The five-time UWCL winner has arrived at Chelsea alongside new manager Sonia Bompastor to potentially push the Blues over the line in Europe.

With one goal and four assists, she played a key part in Barcelona’s 2023-24 UWCL run. An industrious full-back at the heart, Bronze carries the ball and progresses play expertly.

In the Spanish top flight last season, she featured in the top 10 full-backs for both average carry distance per 90 (154 metres) and average carry progress per 90 (81 metres). She was also heavily involved in Barcelona’s build-up play – only four defenders in the Spanish league averaged more touches per 90 than her in 2023-24 (91.7).

Overall, of defenders to play at least 1,000 minutes of Primera División action in 2023-24, Bronze had the highest open-play attacking sequence involvement per 90.

Football transfers are often multi-faceted, ranging from sporting to non-sporting merits. Bronze’s influence for Chelsea will be two-fold. While she is a great full-back, albeit at the wrong end of her career, her unquantifiable experience of winning trophies has a huge appeal for the Blues.

Fran Kirby (Chelsea to Brighton)

Fran Kirby is arguably one of the most technically skilled footballers around. Despite injury problems throughout her career, Kirby always emerged as a differential in games. During her time at Chelsea, a career that spanned over a decade, the attacking midfielder has won multiple individual and collective awards.

The two-time PFA Women’s Player of the Year has the ability to undo defences on her own. Her burst of acceleration and mastery on the ball allows her to glide past opponents with ease, while she consistently occupies spaces in front of defences to manoeuvre them around and find holes in behind.

During the 2020-21 season, Kirby scored 16 goals and provided 11 assists, winning the Player of the Year award in the process. In three of the last four seasons, the former Reading star has averaged over one goal contribution per 90. She has a brilliant eye for goal when she gets in the box, and is an excellent finisher.

Kirby has the ability to not only score herself, but to facilitate other attacking players around her. The 31-year-old is a master at chance creation from open-play and set-pieces; through-balls, crosses, dead-ball deliveries, Kirby has got it all in her repertoire.

Of players to play at least 800 minutes of action in the WSL last season, Kirby led the entire league for chances created from open play per 90 (3.1), while only Guro Reiten (0.52) and Beth Mead (0.46) averaged a higher expected assists per 90 average than her (0.41).

Brighton are a team looking to establish themselves as a consistent top-six side with an aim to challenge the big guns. In Kirby, they’ve gained another veteran who can help them make that leap.

With the departure of Terland, she will be expected to be their talismanic figure and elevate their on-pitch performances, injuries permitting.

Paula Tomás (Levante to Aston Villa)

Aston Villa made a headline-grabbing move to sign Missy Bo Kearns from Liverpool this summer. That meant a shrewd piece of business from the Villans went under the radar, as they also signed full-back Paula Tomás from Levante.

The 23-year-old made her debut for Levante’s senior side in 2020 and has since gone from strength to strength. Right-footed, she is capable of playing on either flank and without much drop in quality on either side.

Super Paula Tomàs 🦸‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/gXwByrw9Uv

— Aston Villa Women (@AVWFCOfficial) September 1, 2024

The 23-year-old defender is a solid two-way threat, able to influence play in both thirds of the pitch. This quality was on display during Villa’s pre-season game recently as she stormed into the box at the far post to score a goal with her head.

She finished the 2023-24 season with a goal and three assists to her name, slightly down from her five assists in the 2022-23 Liga F season.

Her advanced positioning makes her a progressive outlet and she consistently gets a good volume of touches in the final third. In the 2023-24 season, Tomás received 176 progressive passes, the second highest by any defender in Liga F behind only Barcelona’s Ona Batlle (308).

Tomás is tenacious without the ball. She loves to bite into a challenge. Among defenders, only Claudia Florentino (99) attempted more tackles than Tomás (84) in Liga F last season and she dispossessed the opponent with 57 of those 84 attempts. She times her challenges well for the most part, often frustrating dribblers coming at her.

Tomás also has excellent recovery speed, allowing her to get back from precarious situations and cover for teammates.

In a difficult market for strong full-back talent, Tomás is a steal and will help Villa be a solid proposition at both ends of the pitch.

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