Manchester City confirm surgery for young star Lily Murphy | OneFootball

Lily Murphy (Manchester City)

Lily Murphy has had surgery on a shoulder injury, Manchester City have confirmed.

In a statement, the club have said that she had the operation last week and is now beginning her rehabilitation at the City Football Academy, adding: “Everyone at the club is looking forward to her return and would like to wish Lily the very best in her recovery.”

Head coach Andree Jeglertz had said last week: “Lily, we are still waiting for the final review from the consultants.

“I think it’s too early to say [when Lily will return]. They are looking to get the review and we just need to wait until that is done.”

The 19-year-old suffered the injury in added time during City’s opening Women’s Super League fixture against Chelsea.

She fell to the ground during what seemed a straightforward challenge with the Blues’ Johanna Rytting Kaneryd.

Play was not immediately stopped by referee Emily Heaslip, but Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton ran straight to Murphy and called for help.

The young forward was clearly in pain and great distress as she held her arm to her, and was stretchered off, with some onlookers suggesting that she had told the medical team that she thought she had broken her arm.

City’s statement does not confirm the exact nature of the injury or the amount of time they expect her to be out of action.

Lily Murphy’s professional career

Murphy has recently signed a contract extension to keep her at the club until 2027, having signed her first professional deal last year.

She said at the time: “It’s an amazing feeling. This is what I’ve worked towards, getting this extension, and I’m so looking forward to this season.”

She made her senior debut in 2024-25, appearing 22 times for the first team during the campaign.

Manchester City’s season so far

City lost that opening game of the season in which Murphy was injured, falling 2-1 to the defending champions with goals from Aggie Beever-Jones and Maika Hamano, before a Niamh Charles own goal gave them hope for the last 20 minutes.

They got their first win of the campaign at the weekend, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1, coming from behind after Fran Kirby opened the scoring. Goals from Bunny Shaw and Yui Hasegawa ensured that all three points would return north.

Manchester City’s next WSL match is on Friday, 19th September, when they travel to London to take on Tottenham Hotspur.