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Momentarily, Alexia Putellas appears somewhat nervous, stepping inside the cramped conference room in a Kent hotel to see 23 reporters squeezed inside, all eager to hear from the Women’s Super League’s newest global superstar, but she quickly composes herself. Within minutes, she is into her stride, asking for tips about roast dinners and drawing laughs from the room as she jokes that her friends who play for other English clubs have told her they are going to kick her. Welcome to the WSL.
Speaking in English throughout the 20-minute session with ever-increasing proficiency, the two-time Ballon d’Or winner and four-time Champions League winner explains why she has swapped the prestige of Barcelona – where she has been idolised over a trophy-laden 14-year spell – for a team that finished 22 points adrift of the European qualification places last term.
Backed by the ambitious businesswoman Michele Kang, the independently run London City Lionesses have made eye-catching, world-class signings this summer, including the France forward Kadidiatou Diani from Lyonnes – who are also majority-owned by Kang – Putellas’s Barcelona teammate Mapi León and the former England goalkeeper Mary Earps from PSG.
Undoubtedly, though, Putellas is the biggest of them all and the signing that will have made all of women’s football take notice. As a serial winner will Putellas have to be patient for trophies here?
“Both can live together, my mentality and the moment of the project. I’m going to bring to the project whatever the project needs from me, so I’m 100% committed,” the 2023 World Cup winner says. “I’m hungry to win, to be better day after day, to fight with my teammates for the victory. I’m going to try to give my best to the team and let’s see at the end of the season how good we were.”
London City Lionesses were promoted to the WSL in 2025, finished sixth last season in their top-flight debut and are yet to win a major trophy. Asked what her expectations are, Putellas says: “I don’t have expectations. I just want the hard work we are doing to speak for itself. It’s a hard competition. Of course, I have a competitive mind and I want to win every game. But I don’t have expectations in this sport. In my opinion, you shouldn’t. Just work in the back[ground] and give everything.”
Putellas was named as the Women’s Champions League’s player of the season after helping fire Barcelona to a fourth European title in six seasons, yet at the age of 32, she still feels she can improve – “Of course, always, day after day, I want to learn things [and] just keep going, I never stop [trying to] be as good as I can,” – but specifically she thinks the WSL can add elements to her skillset.
“It will be different, but that’s why I’m here, because I’m looking forward to improving myself,” she says. “It’s being a more complete player, as much as I can. It’s about learning new things, playing with and against other players and just trying to find where my limits are. It will take time because it’s a new beginning and a big change for me.
“[In the WSL] you never know what will be the result of the game; it’s a very competitive league, week after week. I imagine all the games will push you to your limits. It’s a very entertaining league.
“The first conversation [I had with London City] was about what the club wants and how ambitious the project is. I want to be part of that journey, bring the experience I have and learn as a player and make me more complete. I made the move for that and just being in other positions that I’ve never been in. In my opinion, this league can give me that.”
When asked if she had sought advice from her former Barcelona teammates, such as the England duo Keira Walsh and Lucy Bronze, about what to expect in England, she says: “Well, some of them told me that it’s a hard league and they’re going to kick me. No, I’m just joking.”
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She also chuckled when asked about London’s traffic and expensive property prices, even if she was slightly hesitant reflecting on her first taste of an English fry-up: “Erm, yes. It was quite different. Not the beans, but the sausages and eggs. It was fine.”
She will have plenty of help when it comes to settling into the London City, with six Spanish teammates and a head coach, Eder Maestre, who she says did a “really good job with Tenerife”. Maestre, yet another coaching export of the Basque Country, was at Tenerife for a year and a half, finishing sixth in his only full season and taking them to fifth by the time he left for England.
Putellas knows there will be differences tactically in the English game and thinks that can help her add even more strings to her bow.
“I really believe that moving to England can give me something more,” she says. “Like, I can control the low blocks and all this stuff; I am used to it playing in Spain. I have already controlled that, so [I want] different kind of games or box-to-box and all this stuff.”
She then apologises for her English – not that any apology was needed – and explains she is still learning the language and working hard to improve it all the time. If her footballing ability continues to enhance too, then WSL defenders had better beware.
English (US) ·