London City Lionesses are making a major move to try to bring Alexia Putellas to the Women’s Super League, with a contract offer understood to have been on the table for some time and far above the terms Barcelona are willing to offer. The two-time Ballon d’Or winner is expected to make a decision on her future soon after captaining Barcelona to another Champions League trophy over the weekend.
Putellas, who was named Champions League Player of the Season, has been tight-lipped about what comes next, but the scale of the approach underlines how seriously London City are treating the summer window. They are not in Europe next season, yet the club have still pressed ahead with ambitious recruitment and have also approached out-of-contract duo Mapi Leon and Mary Earps, while Kosovare Asllani and Grace Geyoro already sit among their standout names.
The move for Putellas lands in a market where Chelsea are also still working on a high-profile target of their own. Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw decided to stay at Manchester City, but Chelsea remain interested in Felicia Schroder, the 19-year-old Hacken striker who scored 30 goals in Sweden last season and hit a hat-trick in the second leg of the Europa Cup final earlier this month.
Chelsea are prepared to offer Hacken around £1.5m for Schroder, though the Swedish club have the leverage of a contract that runs until 2029 and a place for her in Champions League football next season. For Schroder, the next step is also tied to the World Cup, where she wants to become Sweden’s starting striker, which makes the choice between staying put and forcing a bigger move more complicated than a simple transfer race.
Putellas now looks like the biggest name in a summer market that has already turned into a contest between ambition and timing. London City have shown they are willing to act like a club with bigger plans than their immediate European status, and their next move could tell the rest of the league exactly how far they are prepared to go.
