Alexia Putellas left Barcelona with two Ballon d'Or trophies, four Champions League medals, and over 30 titles. She then signed for a club that averaged fewer than 5,000 fans last season and plays in Bromley. That tells you everything about what motivated this move.
The deal — officially unveiled in New York City — puts the 32-year-old midfielder at London City Lionesses on a three-year contract worth just under €1 million a year in base salary. A bump from her €750,000 at Barcelona, but nowhere near the top-of-market figures her profile could have demanded. Putellas wasn't chasing a pay day. She was chasing something harder to define.
Kang's pitch landed where others couldn't
Michele Kang's multi-club empire — Washington Spirit, OL Lyonnes, London City — has made her one of the most powerful figures in women's football. Putellas has been watching that build since 2022, when the pair first crossed paths at a women's football investment event following Kang's takeover of the Spirit. It wasn't a recruitment conversation. It was just enough to plant a flag in Putellas' mind.
What followed over the next three years — Kynisca's formation, acquisitions across Europe, investment in research and coaching education — confirmed what Putellas had clocked early: Kang was actually following through. For a player who has spent years pushing the growth of the women's game through her own foundation, that alignment matters more than stadium size.
Boston Legacy submitted a formal offer in early June and were the last club standing alongside London City. The NWSL's front office also made direct contact, citing salary cap flexibility through the new high-impact player rule — up to $1 million over the cap — plus CBA protections and league parity. It was a serious pitch. Putellas still said no.
Two sources familiar with her thinking said she viewed the WSL as offering stronger opponents and a better overall environment for elite players than the NWSL currently provides. The shorter flight back to Barcelona probably didn't hurt either.
What London City are actually buying
Putellas arrives at a club that finished their debut WSL season with an 8-3-11 record, nearly 30 points behind champions Manchester City, and 13 off a top-four spot. Hayes Lane holds just over 6,000. Their biggest crowd last season — 5,414 — came for a 2-0 loss to Arsenal.
She is not the only signing. Mary Earps joins in goal, Nicole Anyomi arrives on a four-year deal, and Janni Thomsen adds depth at right back. London City are building deliberately, and they have the funding to keep going. Whether the squad can close that 13-point gap to the top four by season's end is the real question — and it's one that will directly shape whether Putellas' gamble on potential over pedigree looks shrewd or premature.
There's a structural wrinkle worth flagging too. UEFA has already moved to ban two clubs from the same multi-club organization from competing in the Women's Champions League simultaneously, with sporting integrity cited as the reason. With Kang owning both London City and OL Lyonnes — who Putellas' Barcelona dismantled 4-0 in this season's Champions League final — that tension isn't going away. If London City earn European football, the regulatory picture gets complicated fast.
- Putellas: three-year deal, base salary under €1 million/year
- London City finished 2024-25 WSL season 8-3-11, nearly 30 points off the title
- Other summer signings: Mary Earps, Nicole Anyomi (4-year deal), Janni Thomsen
- Hayes Lane capacity: just over 6,000; peak attendance last season: 5,414
- London City's second WSL season begins in September
Putellas has won basically everything. Now she's betting that building something from scratch — alongside the woman spending more on women's football than almost anyone alive — is what the final chapter of her career should look like. London City open their WSL season in September, in Bromley, a long way from Camp Nou.
