PREVIEW: What can we expect from London City Lionesses’ debut WSL campaign? | OneFootball

The new kids on the block have arrived. London City Lionesses will make their top-flight debut on Saturday, travelling across the capital to face Arsenal, the reigning European champions. It’s nothing short of a baptism of fire – but such a tough task on the opening day presents a fantastic opportunity to spring a mammoth upset.

London City Lionesses lost just three games in the Women’s Championship (now known as WSL2) as they pipped Birmingham City to promotion in a head-to-head showdown on the final day of the 2024/25 campaign. They were a force to be reckoned with, spurred on in no small part by Isobel Goodwin, who delivered 16 league goals across the course of the season to finish as the competition’s top goalscorer.

At risk of stating the obvious, though, there is a big gulf in quality between the second tier and the Women’s Super League. It isn’t by sheer coincidence that the newly-promoted sides were relegated in each of the past two seasons. The pressure is off somewhat for London City Lionesses though, who have lucked out because a transitional league structure in place for the 2025/26 campaign as the top flight prepares to expand to 14 teams means that finishing bottom of the pile wouldn’t necessarily result in an immediate return to the second tier.

If Jocelyn Prêcheur’s side do find themselves competing in the new relegation play-off, however, questions will be asked. London City Lionesses form part of Michele Kang’s multi-club ownership group, and they’ve certainly splashed the cash over the summer to ensure they’re ready to make waves. No less than 15 new players have been welcomed through the doors at the club’s Cobdown Park training complex – and the majority of them are serial winners.

Splashing the cash

Daniëlle van de Donk was the first signing announced by London City back in June. The Dutch international needs no introduction: she has been capped more than 160 times for her country, won the UEFA Women’s Euros in 2017, and has tasted success in England with Arsenal too. Her arrival was a statement of intent, but perhaps also an early indication that billionaire Kang could be drafting in players from her other clubs – OL Lyonnes and Washington Spirit – to form the core of London City’s squad.

Then came Sanni Franssi, Isa Kardinaal, Teyah Goldie, Poppy Pattinson, Elene Lete, Sophia Poor, Freya Godfrey, Nikita Parris, Elena Linari, Paula Partido, Jana Fernández, Katie Zelem, Alanna Kennedy and Wassa Sangaré. Reports suggest that the transfer business isn’t done there though, with L’Équipe revealing that an agreement with PSG is nearing completion for the £1.4m [€1.65m] signing of 28-year-old Grace Geyoro, which would make the French international the most expensive women’s footballer of all time. It’s fair to say that the squad has been entirely overhauled, with only three of the new acquisitions having never lifted silverware before.

On paper, Prêcheur has been handed an immensely talented group of players filled with serial winners and elite mentalities. Whether the 43-year-old Frenchman can turn that into on-pitch success remains to be seen though, because it’s not always as easy as it looks. With so many new additions, though, the question stands as to how long the players will take to bond, to develop trust in each other and to find their rhythm on the pitch.

Can he handle the Prêcheur?

“I’m not naive,” Prêcheur told The Guardian’s Tom Garry in May after his side had confirmed their promotion to the WSL. “I know the gap is huge between the Championship and the WSL. After [celebrating], I’ll go back to work and start to ensure staff and players look at what are the priorities and what we need to be sure we can compete.”

The 43-year-old, who previously won Chinese honours with Jiangsu Suning and the Coupe de France with Paris Saint-Germain, added that “we have in mind what happened in the last two seasons, for sure, with the promoted team.”

“We don’t want to have the same story, which means we need to be sure we are strong enough, and it will be tough.”

Kang’s aims are for London City to be competing at mid-table level from the very first day of the campaign, with Saki Kumagai also revealing to The Guardian that there is a desire to be knocking on the door of the top four by the end of the season. It’s an ambitious target – but this is arguably the strongest newly-promoted team the WSL has ever seen, and the beauty of football is that even the weakest of underdogs can spring mammoth upsets.

Such a changed squad would pose a challenge for any manager, yet there is an added twist for Prêcheur. In both of his previous roles, he worked as his father’s assistant manager before taking the reins himself, affording him ample opportunity to assess his squad’s strengths and weaknesses. That paid dividends, particularly with Jiangsu Suning, who he turned into a dominant force in China, winning four domestic honours compared to the one his father managed during his tenure – but history suggests he’s more than capable of getting a team over the line and matching Kang’s lofty ambitions.

Friends turned foes – just for a day

It’s difficult to understand just how well this squad have bonded during pre-season, because we’ve only had the opportunity to see them in action once. OL Lyonnes, also owned by Kang, hosted London City on 21 August for a pre-season friendly, with the French side prevailing 3-1 after 90 minutes. Freya Godfrey scored a long-range stunner for London City.

It has to be said, a 3-1 loss to a side that has been utterly dominant domestically for the past decade and has won a staggering eight UEFA Women’s Champions League titles since 2010 doesn’t feel like a bad result in any way, shape or form. It feels remarkably positive, in fact, that this group of new signings conceded just thrice against such a formidable squad and managed to score a goal of their own. Very few teams in the WSL match OL Lyonnes’ quality, and while we should always take pre-season results with a pinch of salt, it certainly looks to be cause for optimism for London City this season.

Three players to watch

There are three players I’ll be keeping a particularly close eye on throughout London City’s debut WSL campaign: Isobel Goodwin, Jana Fernández and Freya Godfrey.

Goodwin set the second tier alight last season with her 16 goals, and was London City’s top goalscorer by quite some distance. The 22-year-old forward forms part of the England U23 setup and if she’s able to consistently find the back of the net in the WSL, she could be in line to receive her first senior call-up.

For entirely different reasons, Fernández’s move to London will test how well the young defender can adapt to an entirely unfamiliar environment. The 23-year-old joined Barcelona at the age of 12 and stayed with the Blaugrana ever since, rising through the youth academy and reaching the first team before swapping Catalunya for the English capital.

After a brief loan spell in the second half of 2024/25, Godfrey’s permanent arrival at London City brings a little bit of continuity to a squad that has otherwise been almost entirely rebuilt. Unlike the majority of the summer arrivals, the 20-year-old is familiar with Prêcheur’s style of play and has already adapted to life at Cobdown Park. Having scored from long range against OL Lyonnes in the aforementioned pre-season friendly, her ability to find the target from range could prove extremely handy throughout the course of the season.

Realistic expectations

Given their overhauled squad, it’s fair to say that London City Lionesses will be heading into the WSL with an equal mix of optimism and uncertainty. On paper, their squad is the strongest ever assembled by a newly-promoted side. They have the financial backing of a billionaire familiar with what it takes to win trophies in women’s football, and they have a manager who isn’t exactly trophy-shy himself.

But the top flight is unforgiving. That strong squad on paper means nothing if it doesn’t translate to on-pitch results. Building trust and cohesion takes time, so it’d be perfectly understandable if London City stumbled through their first few months in the top flight.

By Christmas, though, this is a side that should be getting consistent results and pushing for a mid-table finish. The reduced threat of relegation would normally be an added bonus for a newly-promoted side but such is the strength of this side that the reality is if London City find themselves even slightly concerned by the thought of an immediate return to the second tier, something has gone horribly wrong.

Pushing for the top four might be premature this season, but if Prêcheur can get his team firing on all cylinders and develop a good foundation to build from, European football may not be too far away.