AURA. Galaxy of stars light up London City Lionesses
Sometimes the plan comes together. And London City owner Michele Kang is very close to assembling her very own A Team down Bromley way.
We hear from LCL’s Dutch star Danielle van de Donk and head coach Eder Maestre, as Helen M Jerome investigates Kang’s cunning masterplan for WSL domination!
It was one of those ‘we were there’ moments on a chilly afternoon on January 25th 2026. For this is when we got a mere inkling of a slight rumour of a truly outrageous coup, as London City Lionesses hosted league leaders Man City at Bromley’s Copperjax Stadium.
Spanish players featured in both teams, but heads were instead turned up and away from the pitch, towards the far end of the main stand, where Barcelona’s own Spanish superstars Patri Guijarro and Alexia Putellas were spotted.
They were enjoying the game – along with Arsenal players Mariona Caldentey and Beth Mead – and the chatter in the crowd increased as word spread.
Mead had already been linked with a move to LCL the previous summer, and Mariona had joined her across town on their afternoon off. So no surprises there.
But what were Patri and, more to the point, two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia doing there?
At the end of a tight match, which Bunny Shaw inevitably won for City with a late strike, all the Spanish players from the game and the stand had an impromptu pitchside reunion, complete with big hugs and one small dog (evidence below).
Who knows what plots were hatched that afternoon and what offers were laid on the table, but here we are, seven months later, and somehow, improbably Alexia Putellas, aka la Reina, is a London City Lioness. And no, I still cannot believe it.
CRAZY SUMMER
Before we hear from head coach Eder Maestre and Dutch midfielder Danielle van de Donk, let’s quickly recap a simply crazy summer transfer window for London City Lionesses. Part of Michele Kang’s modus operandi in leafy Bromley is grabbing the biggest names in women’s football to boost publicity and draw the crowds. And it looks like it might finally be working, as their 2027-27 season-opening WSL match against Man United sold out days in advance.
First big name was ex-England Number One, Mary Earps, arriving from Paris St Germain, and bringing a massive social media following, as well as shot-stopping, Golden Glove and Sports Personality of the Year awards. She said the project aligned with her ambitions and looked like the cat that got the cream as she signed!
German forward Nicole Anyomi joined from Eintracht Frankfurt, bringing another dimension to the attack, much like French striker Kadidiatou Diani, who moved from another Kang team, Lyon (below, left). Denmark international Janni Thomsen came from Utah Royals in the NWSL, with Rosa Kafaji (below, right) signing from Arsenal via a successful loan at Brighton last season, both offering versatility around midfield, with Thomsen also a useful right-back.
But it was the Spanish trio that really turned heads. For the future, there is midfielder 20-year-old Daniela Arques, who moved from Sporting in Portugal. Very much for the present is Mapi Leon, set-piece taker, combative defender, Barcelona veteran, and now back in the Spanish international team.
And of course, the piece de resistance, the jewel in Kang’s crown, is Alexia (below, centre). No real need for the surname, her fame from Spain and Barcelona is her calling card. She is a one-name icon, like Madonna or Beyoncé or Adele, with the aura and celebrity status to match.
Speaking to Alexia’s new teammate Danielle van de Donk and their head coach Eder Maestre, you sense their mixture of excitement and disbelief at the season they are going into.
DANIELLE VAN DE DONK
Danielle van de Donk (below, centre) says she wants to win it all. She’s seen so many changes, even since she joined LCL from Lyon last year, with the club developing in every aspect, far beyond her expectations. And she says she feels part of something bigger now – and believes London City can do something special in the league.
She has only positive things to say about the future, in the shape of the younger players. And the fanbase, she announces, has doubled on social media. She is now injury-free, and is extremely upbeat about the new season, and well, everything.
Danielle, you have mentioned the joy of having Alexia and all the other Spaniards. Plus the French players, Germans, the whole lot.
I wonder when you’ve got that mix – and someone like Alexia, who has this aura – what does she add to training?
Danielle van de Donk: She just speeds up the game or she slows it down whenever it’s needed.
And that’s very interesting for me to see because… myself as a player, when I train, I give it 100% and I just go, go, go.
Because that’s just who I am.
And with her, I’m just sometimes like: oh, you slow it down now.
You actually speed it up now.
It’s quite clever and intelligent.
So maybe I can add that to my game.
It’s been really nice, actually, that she’s shown them already what she’s capable of.
Not only her, like you said, there’s so many more signings.
And they’ve also impressed me… Not only her!
When you look around the pitch, you are now vice captain, and we mentioned Alexia… and from Elena [Linari] (below, right), Grace [Geyoro] and Mary [Earps] to Delphine [Cascarino], you have all these leaders with different leadership styles… what can you collectively push London City to achieve?
I think they’ve been doing great so far.
They are, like you said, leaders.
It doesn’t really matter who’s wearing the armband.
I mean, it’s an honour to wear it, but it doesn’t exist just with the three captains that we have.
It’s more like, like you said, we have so much experience in the team, and they all have a voice, their own leadership skills.
So, I really, really want them to bring them out as well.
And trust me, they will, and they do, which is a really good thing.
And I think that’s what is making us so strong and even stronger as a captaincy team, because we know we get backed up by them.
EDER MAESTRE
Eder Maestre (above, left) joined London City as head coach at Christmas last season, and described himself as an educator when he arrived. He now labels himself “close to a guide” and part of the LCL family. He is, however, here to dream big. And he hopes the whole team can be “contagious with their energy”.
I pushed Maestre a bit on how his tactics might work, in this, his second season. And he was keen to illustrate his flexibility and strong football philosophy, which you might say mixes and matches Spanish style and English pragmatism.
You now have seven Spanish players. I was trying to count them, but you keep adding more. Can you tell me a little bit about the Spanish style and make-up of the squad? And do you think that passing style will work in the very English WSL?
Eder Maestre: First of all, I’m Spanish, but I’m Basque as well!
So I think I have a very good mixture from Spanish and English football, because if you know the Basque identity, maybe it’s closer to the English football culture.
I think having more Spanish players will help us to reach the Spanish style, but we don’t want to lose the roots of the English football.
I remember some conversations with the players where we put on the table, the way to play is about exploiting the spaces.
So if the opponent is allowing us to exploit the spaces in behind, we are not going hesitate to do that.
It’s not about being married to a very specific way to play.
It’s about understanding the spaces that we can create through the ball or through the player that we can move in that specific situation to exploit them.
Having more Spanish players will help us to understand better, maybe the way to overload, the way to be very connected to the spaces that surround the ball.
But we cannot lose the players who can [stay] deep, trying to provide those runners in behind who are always important.
Would that be Plan B then? You’d be going more vertical, more direct and maybe having Izzy [Goodwin] up top?
Yeah, I don’t want to say Plan B. To be honest, I really want us to understand that football is about understanding the spaces.
So you recognise the spaces you have in front of you every time.
Maybe sometimes you are going to be more direct because of the opponent.
Maybe sometimes you are going to be more indirect because of the opponent as well.
It’s understanding how to play the correct cards to be very dominant in all the registers that football can have.
If we are very romantic in only one way we see football, we are going to have problems facing teams with the best solution to [our] football.
So the more flexible we can be in the way we understand the spaces appearing constantly in the game, the more unpredictable we can be in terms of understanding football as a whole picture, where all the ways to play are perfectly applicable and part of our game model, our identity.
Obviously, we are going to have some trends, but we are going to be very open to understanding other ways to exploit the spaces that appear.
Photos: Helen M Jerome, LCL
