Clinton signs for City | OneFootball

Manchester City are delighted to announce the permanent transfer of England international and Euro 2025 winner Grace Clinton.

The midfielder joins the Club from Manchester United having helped the Lionesses to glory this summer, and signs until the summer of 2029.

WATCH GRACE AT THE JOIE STADIUM

Clinton joins City as one of the most exciting young midfielders in the WSL and will wear the number six shirt during her time at the Joie Stadium.

Having begun her professional career at Everton, the midfielder moved to Manchester United in 2022 after breaking into the Toffees’ first team at 17.

WATCH: Grace Clinton signs for City!

Loan spells at Bristol City and Tottenham Hotspur followed in the next two campaigns, with her performances at the latter seeing her named PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year for 2023/24.

She also earned a spot in that season’s PFA WSL Team of the Year, voted for by her fellow professionals, having been named Bristol City’s Young Player of the Year the season prior.

Returning to United for the 2024/25 campaign, Clinton featured 28 times in all competitions, with Elisabeth Terland the only player to better her nine goals.

On an international front, she was also part of the Lionesses squad who become the first senior England side to win a major tournament on foreign soil.

WATCH: Clinton reflects on ‘surreal’ Euros success

Speaking about the move, Grace said: “It feels amazing. I’m so excited.

“I love the way Manchester City play, and it’s been tough to play against them in the past so I’m excited to be here and meet the girls.

“City, for me, has always played an amazing style of football. Keeping the ball, it looks lovely, and there are amazing players [here].”

Manchester City Women Director of Football, Therese Sjogran added: “We’re really pleased to have been able to bring Grace to Manchester City – she’s a player we have admired for a while now.

“She is still a young player but already has a lot of experience under her belt, and we believe she will fit in seamlessly with our style of play and add to the talented squad we already have.

“We’re very much looking forward to working with Grace over the coming seasons and seeing her make her mark in a Manchester City shirt.”

MIDFIELD ENFORCER

Despite being just 22 years old, City’s final summer signing – Grace Clinton – arrives at the Club with a wealth of experience beyond her young age.

And fresh from helping England to triumph at the 2025 European Championships in Switzerland, she’s ready to make her mark at the Joie Stadium and add to her already impressive CV.

Among her individual and team accolades, she has also consistently stepped up on the biggest stages and in intensely high-pressured environments.

Born in Liverpool in 2003, she immediately showcased her potential on Merseyside before Everton swooped for her services and added her to the Toffees’ Academy system.

After progressing through their youth levels she made her first start, against Liverpool no-less, and helped them win a League Cup clash 1-0 to gain bragging rights over their rivals.

Her performances in Everton’s engine room caught the eye of many across the footballing world before she moved to Manchester United in July 2022 – but it was two loan moves and exposure to consistent senior football which sparked her rapid rise.

Firstly, in January 2023, she joined Championship title-chasing Bristol City and her fantastic numbers helped the Vixens clinch a place in the WSL.

On her debut, she netted a 93rd minute winner in a precious 3-2 victory over Coventry United – highlighting her ice-cold veins when the microscope is firmly hovering over her.

In total, she scored six goals in 15 outings for Bristol City which helped them seal their place at the second tier’s summit.

But it was her temporary spell at Spurs across the 2023/24 campaign where she fully arrived in the Barclays Women’s Super League.

This, in-part, was due to the physicality and industrious displays she delivered for the north Londoners which saw her record the fourth-highest number of tackles per minutes played across the WSL term.

While playing for Tottenham Hotspur she also made her England debut and, again, rose to the occasion by scoring 19 minutes into her senior bow as the Lionesses in a 7-2 win over Switzerland in February 2024.

After then helping Spurs to the FA Cup final in 2024, which they lost to parent club Manchester United, she was named PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year with four goals and four assists in 20 WSL appearances to her name.

Back with Marc Skinner’s side for the 2024/25 campaign, an examination of City’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup semi-final clash with our cross-city rivals shows exactly the type of player Andrée Jeglertz has added to his arsenal.

Tireless and battling throughout, Clinton stamped her authority in the engine room and was at the centre of the visitors’ victory that day at the Joie Stadium.

She also headed home at Old Trafford in the penultimate clash of the WSL campaign against City, with the game finishing 2-2.

Then came the historic 2025 European Championships where she was a dependable member of the Lionesses side who became the first England senior team to win a major honour on foreign soil.

Now at City, and under Jeglertz’s tutelage, she’ll be determined to progress even further while playing the brand of football she believes suits her best.