Manchester United Women: At a Crossroads in Their Journey
Manchester United Women stand at a crossroads.
A Champions League quarter-final last season, and a credible showing in it, should have been the springboard to something bigger. Instead, they watched European football slip through their fingers in the league. That contradiction captures exactly where this team is: close enough to touch the elite, not yet strong enough to stay there.
Eight years on from reforming the women’s side, United have travelled a long way in a short time. They’ve reached three cup finals, qualified for the Champions League and lifted the FA Cup. They’ve proved they can go toe-to-toe with the best on any given day. But Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have been building for far longer, with deeper roots and broader resources. United are still trying to bridge that gap while the bar keeps rising.
They always knew they would need big steps on and off the pitch. The problem is everyone else is striding, too, and United’s pace has not quite matched the urgency of the moment.
A squad stretched too thin
Depth has been the glaring weakness. Last season exposed it brutally once the Champions League was added to a schedule already packed with domestic demands. United simply did not have the numbers or variety to rotate without a drop in quality. They knew it needed fixing last summer. It wasn’t.
The recruitment that did happen was not poor. Far from it. Julia Zigiotti Olme and Jess Park were smart, impactful additions, the kind of signings you build around. But they were two of only three arrivals. For a team about to fight on four fronts, that was a risk bordering on reckless. The season proved as much, even with some late January business.
This summer was supposed to be the correction. So far, there is little sign of a decisive course change.
Rivals move, United watch
Look at the teams United are trying to catch.
City, fresh from a WSL and FA Cup double, publicly downplayed the idea of a busy window. Then they quietly went and upgraded anyway. Beth Mead, a proven, high-level attacker with medals and big moments on her CV. Niamh Charles, an England international who plugs a clear need at left-back. On top of that, they fought off Chelsea to keep Khadija Shaw, the WSL Golden Boot winner, tying down the league’s most devastating striker.
Arsenal have gone the other way: loud, aggressive, unapologetically ambitious. Seven years without a league title is driving a serious reset. In the space of two weeks they announced Georgia Stanway, Ona Batlle, Selina Cerci, Geraldine Reuteler and Lisa Baum. They are still pushing to land Barcelona free agent Salma Paralluelo. That is the profile of business that drags a club back to the top.
Chelsea’s window has been messy, even frustrating at times. They missed out on Shaw, then Paralluelo, then Felicia Schroder in their hunt for a new No.9. Yet they still managed to land Katie McCabe and one of the standout players in last year’s NWSL, Matsukubo, who is only 21. A centre-forward solution also appears close, with Paris Saint-Germain striker Romee Leuchter expected to arrive, according to Vrouwen Voetbal Nieuws. Even in a “difficult” window, Chelsea have found quality.
And United? One signing so far: Andrea Medina, a versatile 22-year-old who can play centre-back or left-back. She is a smart addition and addresses a real need. But she is also, for now, the only one.
Noise about exits, silence about arrivals
The transfer chatter around United has been telling. Most of it has been about who might leave, not who might come in.
Melvine Malard is understood to be closing in on a move to Chelsea. The Athletic reports the club are open to selling Elisabeth Terland, last season’s top scorer, if a suitable offer comes in. The logic is clear: cash in now and reinvest rather than lose the Norway international for nothing next summer. But it also risks ripping out a key part of United’s attack at a time when they already lack depth.
Terland turned down a new deal in November. She is not alone in entering the final year of her contract. Ella Toone is in the same position and her comments last month were pointedly cautious.
“Obviously it’s now time to talk,” she said. “I just know I have got to make a decision on what’s best for me.”
Those are not the words of a player locked in for the long term. United cannot ignore that tension.
Pressure from below
The challenge is no longer just about reeling in City, Arsenal and Chelsea. United also need to make sure the floor doesn’t fall away beneath them.
London City Lionesses are the most obvious new force. Backed by billionaire owner Michele Kang, who also owns Washington Spirit and eight-time European champions Lyon, they have made an extraordinary statement. Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas has been lured to England. Four-time Champions League winner Mapi Leon has followed, along with former Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earps and prolific Germany forward Nicole Anyomi. That is not a mid-table project. That is a power play.
Tottenham are moving smartly, too. They finished just one place and four points behind United last season, drawing both league meetings. They have already brought in five new faces. Among them: Shekiera Martinez, who scored 16 league goals for a relegation-threatened West Ham; Kirsty Hanson, outscored in the WSL only by Shaw and Alessia Russo last term; and goalkeeper Selma Panengstuen, who reportedly turned down Arsenal and PSG to join Spurs. That is the profile of a club that believes it can jump the queue.
Brighton, who caused United real problems last year and reached the FA Cup final in May, have added former Arsenal midfielder Lia Walti. Again, that is a serious, targeted upgrade.
The middle pack is not standing still. It is closing in.
United’s reality check
Last summer, as fees in the women’s game climbed to new heights, Marc Skinner was blunt about United’s position. They were not going to be competing for players in the financial bracket that took Olivia Smith to Arsenal or Grace Geyoro to London City.
“The reality is we have to try and find our own way to do it,” he said.
They did find some value and did some good work, but not enough of it. The squad was never truly built to withstand a four-front campaign.
This season there will be no such burden. No Champions League. No midweek European travel. United will hope to use that breathing space the way City did last season, when a year out of Europe ended with them lifting the WSL title for the first time in a decade.
There is also a belief that the January arrivals will look different after a full pre-season. Lea Schuller is the prime example. She arrived from Bayern Munich with a prolific goal record and a fearsome reputation, but scored just twice in her first 18 appearances. Six months of adaptation are now behind her. United need the version of Schuller that terrorised defences in Germany, not the one still feeling her way into a new league.
A window that will define the next phase
Strip it back and the picture is stark. This United squad needs major reinforcement to compete with City, Arsenal and Chelsea. It may soon need it just to hold off the clubs charging up behind them.
This is a defining transfer window. A quiet start does not automatically mean failure, and there is still time for a flurry of smart, decisive moves. But the early weeks have not brought the kind of bold response supporters expected after a season that laid bare the squad’s limits.
United have proved they can touch the top of the women’s game. The question now is whether they are prepared to build a squad that can stay there, week after week, season after season.
