Why Alexia Putellas Left Barcelona for London City Lionesses

Alexia Putellas is known as la reina — the queen. This summer the Spanish midfielder traded Barcelona for Bromley-based London City Lionesses (LCL), a seven-year-old side that plays in a modest ground. For women’s football, it is a striking move — and a test of whether an independent club can break the Women’s Super League elite while staying within new spending rules.

Why the world’s best player traded Barcelona for Bromley

Across 14 years with Barcelona, Ms Putellas collected four Women’s Champions League crowns and ten Spanish league championships. She won the World Cup alongside Spain in 2023 and has twice been honoured with the Ballon d’Or Féminin for the world’s best player. This summer she swapped that dominance for LCL, a club that only last year won promotion into the Women’s Super League, the highest level of English women’s football.

From Millwall breakaway to Michele Kang’s network

LCL began life as Millwall’s women’s branch, tied to a club notorious for hooliganism among its supporters. In 2019 the Millwall Lionesses chose to break away and rebrand under a fresh identity. Four years afterwards, the outfit was acquired by Michele Kang, an American businesswoman who additionally controls women’s sides in America and France.

After securing promotion last year into the WSL, LCL has embarked upon an extraordinary recruitment drive. Alongside Ms Putellas, it has brought in ex-England goalkeeper Mary Earps, plus leading talent from Australia and France.

WSL cost controls arrive for 2026-27

A wealthy foreign backer spending heavily feels familiar from English men’s football. Yet for each Manchester City or Chelsea, where cash delivered trophies, there stands a Leicester City or Portsmouth, where excessive outlay pushed clubs toward collapse. The WSL wants to prevent that outcome.

Those fresh controls aim to promote long-term solvency, yet they may also cement the supremacy of the current powerhouses. Arsenal and Chelsea, for instance, who together have claimed the WSL in eight of the past nine seasons, both posted revenue of €25m (£21m, or $29m) in their latest filings. Their available budgets for signings and salaries will dwarf those of competitors.

The revenue gap at London City Lionesses

Ms Kang is wagering that her club’s sales operation can lift turnover sharply enough to cover the outlay on fresh recruits. In 2024-25 its overall revenue was only just above £900,000. Ms Putellas’s yearly pay alone has been placed at almost that sum.

While income will have climbed steeply since then — a larger WSL television contract with Sky and the BBC started in 2025-26 — LCL’s expenses will have done so as well. The side reported a loss of £10.6m in 2024-25. Turnover might have to grow by as much as 15-fold to satisfy the WSL’s requirements.

What independence gives — and costs — in the WSL

LCL stands as the sole member of the 14-club league with no connection to a bigger men’s outfit. Christina Philippou, an expert in football finance at the University of Portsmouth, regards that as a strength.

She additionally argues that Ms Kang’s control of Washington Spirit in America and OL Lyonnes in France might lift sponsorship, through an capacity to present packages spanning three separate markets.

Yet LCL also misses the facilities that boost rival women’s squads. Arsenal’s women have now made the Emirates Stadium their home and drew average crowds above 33,000 in 2025-26. For the moment, LCL uses the ground belonging to third-tier men’s outfit Bromley. It drew typical attendances of 3,200 last season.

Can buying success buy compliance?

Ms Kang has unquestionably followed that route. Ms Putellas may yet become the spark that turns LCL into a lasting force in women’s football. On the pitch, she might drive the side toward Champions League qualification, opening another stream of prize revenue. Beyond it, her stature might attract commercial agreements on the scale needed to achieve financial compliance. Still, it remains a daring wager.

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