London City are no stranger to marquee signings, with billionaire owner Michele Kang helping to finance many star additions ahead of their promotion-winning season. Sweden internationals Kosovare Asllani and Sofia Jakobsson helped propel the club out of the second-tier, with five-time Champions League winner Saki Kumagai arriving midway through the 2024-25 season. Even the manager is a big name, as Kang's project helped persuade Jocelyn Precheur to leave Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
Now that promotion to the WSL has been achieved, thanks to a final day draw at Birmingham City, the big transfers will certainly not slow down, as evidenced by the player who is set to be their first new arrival of the summer. It was long expected that Ingrid Engen would sign for Lyon when her contract expires at Barcelona later this month, the French giants incidentally being another club that Kang owns. However, Engen's destination appears to have changed, with understanding that she is likely to join London City Lionesses instead.
DID YOU KNOW?
Engen is a two-time Champions League winner who played a starring role in Barca's 2023-24 triumph in particular. That year, she filled in a lot as a centre-back for the Catalans, but she came to the fore as a young talent in Norway as a defensive midfielder, joining two-time European champions Wolfsburg to play that role.
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WHAT NEXT FOR ENGEN AND LONDON CITY LIONESSES?
Still only 27 years old, Engen is entering the prime of her career and it appears that she will spend at least some of those years with London City Lionesses, in what would be a huge boost to their hopes of avoiding relegation in their first season in the WSL.