Manchester United Women: A Defining Transfer Window
Manchester United Women stand at a crossroads.
A year that brought a Champions League quarter-final also ended without any European football at all. That contrast captures their reality better than any league table: close enough to feel the heat of the elite, strong enough to trade blows on a good night, but still short of the stamina and structure required to live there week after week.
This is not a mystery. United only reformed their women’s team eight years ago. City, Arsenal and Chelsea have been building, investing and winning for far longer. United have squeezed plenty into that short window – Champions League qualification, three cup finals, an FA Cup in the cabinet – but the foundations simply are not as deep or as wide as those of the clubs they are trying to catch.
The problem now is that the climb is getting steeper.
Rivals accelerate while United idle
To truly close the gap, United needed to move aggressively on and off the pitch. They haven’t. Not yet.
Squad depth remains the glaring weakness, brutally exposed last season when Marc Skinner’s side tried to juggle four competitions, including Europe, with a thin group. The club knew it had to bulk up 12 months ago and didn’t. The consequences were predictable.
Recruitment, when it happens, is not the issue. Last summer’s arrivals Julia Zigiotti Olme and Jess Park were clear hits. The issue is volume. They were two of only three signings made before a campaign that demanded numbers, variety and competition for places. January business helped at the margins, but by then the damage was already baked into the season.
This summer was supposed to be different. So far, it doesn’t look that way.
Across town, City – fresh from winning the WSL and FA Cup – publicly played down expectations of a busy window. They still moved decisively. Beth Mead, a proven top-tier attacker with medals and big-game experience. Niamh Charles, another England international, plugging a long-standing hole at left-back. And crucially, Khadija Shaw, the WSL Golden Boot winner, tied down to a new contract despite Chelsea circling.
Arsenal have gone in even harder. Seven years without a league title has sharpened their edge. In the space of two weeks they unveiled Georgia Stanway, Ona Batlle, Selina Cerci, Geraldine Reuteler and Lisa Baum, while continuing to pursue Barcelona free agent Salma Paralluelo. That is not tinkering. That is a title bid being armed, piece by piece.
Chelsea’s window has been messy at times, but not meek. Rebuffed in their attempts to land Shaw, Paralluelo and Felicia Schroder, they still secured Katie McCabe and added Matsukubo, one of the standout players in last season’s NWSL and only 21. Reports suggest Paris Saint-Germain striker Romee Leuchter is on her way. The search for a centre-forward may yet end with another statement signing.
And United? One in, so far: Andrea Medina, a talented 22-year-old capable of playing centre-back or left-back. A smart, necessary addition. But on her own, nowhere near sufficient.
Transfer noise – but in the wrong direction
The silence around incoming targets is almost as telling as the deals not done. There has been little credible reporting on serious pursuits or advanced talks. Instead, the loudest stories involve players heading out of the door.
Melvine Malard is understood to be closing in on a move to Chelsea. The Athletic reports that United are open to selling Elisabeth Terland, last season’s top scorer, if a suitable offer lands, preferring to cash in now rather than risk losing the Norway international for nothing next summer. Terland turned down a new contract in November; the clock has been ticking since.
She is not alone. Ella Toone also enters the final year of her deal. Asked about her future last month, she did not commit either way, simply acknowledging that conversations must happen and that she has a decision to make on what is best for her. For a club that wants to project ambition, those are uneasy subplots to carry into a new season.
Threat from below
United’s gaze cannot be fixed solely upwards on City, Arsenal and Chelsea. The danger now comes from behind as well.
London City Lionesses are the most obvious disruptors. Backed by billionaire Michele Kang, whose portfolio includes Washington Spirit and serial European champions Lyon, they have detonated the transfer market by bringing two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas to England. They have not stopped there: Mapi Leon, a four-time Champions League winner, former England No.1 Mary Earps and prolific Germany forward Nicole Anyomi have all signed on. That is not a mid-table project; it is a power play.
Tottenham, who finished just one place and four points behind United last season and took draws home and away against them, have started the window with purpose. Five new faces are already in, including Shekiera Martinez, whose 16 goals in 32 league games came for a relegation-threatened West Ham side; Kirsty Hanson, outscored only by Shaw and Alessia Russo in the WSL last term; and goalkeeper Selma Panengstuen, who reportedly chose Spurs over Arsenal and PSG. Those are the kind of edges that turn near-misses into overtakes.
Brighton, who also caused United problems last year and reached the FA Cup final, have added former Arsenal midfielder Lia Walti in a quietly excellent piece of business. The middle tier of the league is not standing still; it is arming up.
United’s constraint – and their choice
Skinner was blunt last summer as the women’s transfer market exploded into seven-figure territory. United, he said, could not compete financially with the fees that took Olivia Smith to Arsenal and Grace Geyoro to London City. The club would have to find “its own way” to build.
To a degree, they did. Zigiotti Olme, Park and others were shrewd pieces of work that showed United can still find value. But there was never enough of it to construct a squad capable of fighting credibly on four fronts.
There will be no such strain this time. No Champions League. No midweek European travel. United can focus on domestic competitions, just as City did last season when they used a year without Europe to reset and surge back to the WSL title after a decade-long wait.
There is also the hope that January arrivals, particularly Lea Schuller, will look very different after a full pre-season and six months of adaptation behind them. Schuller came from Bayern Munich with a formidable goal record but scored only twice in her first 18 appearances. United need the version that terrorised Bundesliga defences, not the one still finding her feet.
Even if that happens, it will not be enough on its own.
This squad still requires serious reinforcement – in quality, in depth, in competition – to keep pace not just with the established giants but with the ambitious climbers below. The margin for error is shrinking as others move decisively.
This is a defining window for Manchester United Women. A quiet start does not guarantee failure, but it does sharpen the question hanging over the club.
In a league that is accelerating on all sides, how long can a team on the cusp afford to wait before it either joins the frontrunners – or is left behind by them?
