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The Women’s Super League club has acquired a two-time Ballon d’Or winner after leaving Barcelona after a 14-year career.
Published on 8 Jul 2026
Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas has joined London City Lionesses, the Women’s Super League (WSL) club owned by American billionaire Michele Kang has confirmed.
The signing, which was announced on Wednesday, is seen as a major coup for the team, which will play in the women’s division for the first time in the 2026-27 season.
Putellas was a free agent after ending his remarkable 14-year career at Barcelona, where he won four Champions League titles.
London City were promoted to the WSL for the 2024/25 season and finished sixth in their first season in the top flight.
But with the help of Kang’s determination to change the women’s game, the only women’s club in England’s top flight is now a major threat to the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.
“The team’s mission and commitment to growing as an independent women’s club really resonates with me,” Putellas said.
The 32-year-old was named the best female player in the world in 2021 and 2022 and was part of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad in 2023.
“Alexia Putellas is at the pinnacle of talent, dedication and vision in women’s soccer,” Kang said in a club statement.
“Her decision to join our independent, first women’s club is a strong endorsement of what we are building in the City of London.”
Putellas joins former England international Mary Earps, French stars Delphine Cascarino and Grace Geyoro, and Sweden’s Kosovare Asllani.
His arrival further boosts the WSL’s reputation as it aims to emulate the Premier League’s role in the men’s game and become a destination for the world’s best players.
The Lionesses will not play in next season’s Champions League after City, Chelsea and Arsenal secured three places in England.
