Manchester City: From Dark Horses to WSL Champions
For years, City were everyone’s dark horses. The squad always looked good enough to rip the WSL crown away from Chelsea, yet when it mattered, something broke. Late-season collapses. Costly errors. A team that flirted with greatness but never quite crossed the line.
Magnus Jeglertz changed that.
In his first season in charge, City didn’t just win. They shifted something deeper. Alex Greenwood called it a “shift in culture”, a conscious change in “the language used” around the training ground and in the dressing room. Players were pushed into uncomfortable territory, forced to talk openly about trophies, about domination, about expectation.
That edge made the difference.
Now they’re champions of England and owners of their first silverware in four years, and the whole thing suddenly feels sustainable, not accidental.
Mary Fowler felt that mental block lift in real time. “In previous seasons, maybe we fell short because there was a bit of a lack in the mindset where we felt we were really capable of winning,” she told GOAL. “But I think now that we've done it, it feels like, 'You are very capable and you can do that again'.”
That’s the crux. City no longer sound like hopeful challengers. They sound like a team that expects to be there at the end.
Hunger, not relief
When Jeglertz walked back into the building after a short summer break, he didn’t find a squad easing off after a title. He found players itching for more.
“I've seen it already in the players,” he told GOAL. “They already have a confidence that is great, that is calm, but curious about how we take the next step. What do we do to become a little bit better? I already see it and that's something that we need to keep having the whole year.”
No one is talking about pressure being lifted. The title hasn’t relaxed them; it’s sharpened them.
And the dressing room now includes two women who know more about winning than most.
Niamh Charles arrives from Chelsea, where she lived inside a dynasty: five straight WSL titles, seven more domestic cups, a machine built to collect medals. Jeglertz sees that pedigree as a tool. “That means that she has a little bit of a leader in her,” he said. “That is something that we are going to be able to use also in sessions and in how you win from one year to the next year.”
Beth Mead brings a different kind of experience. Back-to-back European Championship wins with England. A central role in Arsenal’s 2025 Champions League triumph over Barcelona. She has seen the biggest stages, and she’s not satisfied.
“You can see in her eyes, she's still very eager to be part of this and to learn more,” Jeglertz noted. That hunger matters in a squad that now believes it belongs at the top.
On the intangible side – culture, mentality, environment – City look primed to defend their WSL title. The questions lie elsewhere.
The Champions League test
Last season’s title win came with one significant asterisk: City didn’t have European football. While Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United juggled the Champions League, City could pour everything into domestic competition.
That luxury has gone.
This year, Europe is back on the calendar, and the demands on the squad rise sharply. Which is why the transfer window raised a few eyebrows.
Beyond Mead and Charles, the only senior addition is Carlotta Wamser, a versatile full-back who adds depth on both flanks. Set that against nine first-team departures and the squad looks lighter than many expected, even if there was never an intention to rip it up.
“The depth is there,” sporting director Nils O’Neill said at the end of last season. “It’s not about a squad transformation. It’s about adding in the key positions we need.”
The early weeks will stress-test that belief. Injuries have already bitten, with Vivianne Miedema facing a long road back – the Guardian understands she may not return until 2027. City tried to move on deadline day but couldn’t get a deal done, a clear sign that concern exists behind the scenes.
Left-back has been addressed after Leila Ouahabi’s exit, with Charles and Wamser covering that side. Mead replaces Kerolin in the forward areas after the Brazilian’s move to Barcelona. Beyond that, Jeglertz is effectively doubling down on what he already has.
Risa Shimizu, back from a loan spell at Liverpool, will be tasked with offering depth at full-back. Bigger seasons are expected from Sydney Lohmann and Grace Clinton, both of whom arrived last summer but never fully caught fire, their campaigns disrupted by niggles and missed chances. Fowler, entering her first full season back after an ACL injury and already flashing her talent since February, is another who could change the ceiling of this side.
If those players hit, City look stacked. If they don’t, the cracks will show quickly.
Versatility up front, thin ice elsewhere
Up top, the options are intriguing. Mead, Fowler, Lauren Hemp, Aoba Fujino and Iman Beney can all shift across the forward line, with several capable of leading it through the middle. That flexibility reduces the need to sign a pure back-up striker to sit behind Khadija Shaw and wait for scraps.
Behind them, the academy conveyor belt has started to feed into the senior picture. Sacha Lewis, Amelia Oldroyd and Aoibhe Brennan have all signed their first professional deals this summer. Mayzee Davies, already a senior Wales international and tied down last year, could also edge into the depth conversation if opportunities open up.
At the top of the hierarchy, the core remains untouched. Shaw, Greenwood, Hemp, Kerstin Casparij, Jade Rose and Yui Hasegawa form one of the most formidable starting XIs in the league. Miedema will add another world-class layer when she eventually returns.
On paper, that frontline quality is undeniable. The issue is what happens if the wrong injuries hit at the wrong time.
City’s injury record last season was almost spotless, a rarity in recent years. That allowed Jeglertz to lean heavily on his best players without the usual rotation headaches. Repeating that trick while navigating the Champions League feels optimistic.
“We’ve learned and we will absolutely be ready next season,” O’Neill insisted. Jeglertz, for his part, actually felt the squad was too big last year, so he welcomes the expanded schedule as a way to give minutes to players who deserve them.
“We have too many good players to play these few games we are playing,” he said back in May. “Next year will be different because it's more games. The squad is built for that.”
He may be right. But some positions still look fragile. A couple of injuries in the wrong zone, or another setback for someone like Lohmann – who has already undergone hip surgery – or Clinton failing to step up, and the whole structure starts to wobble. The fact City go into the season with several players already doubtful, and Miedema definitely sidelined, is a knot they can’t ignore.
Culture versus depth
Across the league, there are squads with more bodies and, on paper, more depth. But those same teams face questions City have already answered: about dressing-room chemistry, tactical cohesion, and the willingness to do ugly work when the season turns dark and cold.
Building a Chelsea-style dynasty in this new, fiercely competitive WSL feels a long shot for anyone. The landscape has shifted. Money is spread wider, talent is better distributed, and the margins are brutal.
City, though, have something that travels: clarity. A clear identity, a hardened mindset, and a group that has finally learned how to finish the job.
Last season, they were the best team in England by a distance. That kind of dominance doesn’t vanish overnight. With the belief that comes from finally lifting the WSL, the injection of serial winners like Charles and Mead, and a core that now knows how to carry expectation, the idea of waiting another decade for a title feels remote.
The question isn’t whether they can compete for the biggest trophies again.
It’s whether anyone else is truly ready to stop them.
