Welcome to England! Barcelona icon Alexia Putellas on conversations with Lucy Bronze & Keira Walsh, the reasons behind her WSL move and why she can still improve as first London City Lionesses season

The language is an obvious one. Putellas, though, is already taking that in her stride impressively well, searching for translation help just once in her first 20-minute dealing with the English media and making a joke at her own expense only as she gets momentarily lost in the weeds of some more in-depth tactical conversation. “Sorry guys,” she laughs. “I’m learning the football language.”

There are plenty more day-to-day things, too. “Looking for an apartment, looking where I have to go for shopping, just normal things that, in Barcelona, of course, I knew,” she explains, after being asked what has dominated her time in England so far. “Day after day, I learn new things.”

Among them are activities to do off the pitch, but also the swell of traffic in London and, of course, a very different cuisine. “I already tried an English breakfast,” she admits, which draws an amused response out of those gathered. Asked if she liked it, she responds hesitantly, noting her audience. “Yes. Not the beans, but the sausages and the eggs.”

Soon enough, the stuff that Putellas is much more familiar with will take centre stage. It’s less than a month until the new Women’s Super League season gets underway, with London City Lionesses to host Manchester United in the curtain raiser on September 4, on a Friday night under the lights.

Having old friends in the building has made it easier for the 32-year-old to adapt to her new surroundings, be it the four other former Barcelona players in the squad, or sporting director Markel Zubizarreta, who was also with the Blaugrana previously.

There will still be differences for Putellas, though, with the new league prime among them. She has had exposure to WSL teams before, winning seven of her 11 meetings with English sides in the Champions League, and she’s played against the Lionesses plenty, too, most notably in the 2023 Women’s World Cup and Euro 2025 finals. But this will be different, even if she’ll see plenty of familiar faces lining up against her over the course of the season.

The Spain international has already spoken with a few, having played alongside the likes of Keira Walsh and Lucy Bronze during her time at Barcelona. “Some of them told me that it’s a hard league and they’re going to kick me,” she responds, drawing a big laugh from the room when asked about her communication with those former team-mates ahead of the move. “No problem,” she smiles. “I'm ready for that, or trying to be ready.”

Perhaps the biggest difference is the place Putellas’ new team is in compared to her previous one. One of her final games as a Barca player delivered a fourth Champions League trophy and now she arrives at London City Lionesses after the club just finished their first-ever season in the WSL in sixth, 22 points off the UWCL spots.

Billionaire Michele Kang – who owns eight-time European champions Lyon and NWSL giants Washington Spirit, as well as London City – is giving her project in England huge backing in an attempt to reach the top of the game, which has helped lure the likes of Putellas, Mary Earps and more to the English capital. But there is still a big gap to bridge.

It all makes London City one of the most fascinating teams ahead of the new season. Can all this change mesh together to create a side that can challenge at the top of the WSL now? Or will it take time? How will all of these star-studded signings adjust to this new challenge?

Putellas believes her own mentality, which is of a world-class level, can co-exist with the place the project is in, and as for expectations, well, she is not really interested in setting any. “I don’t have expectations in this sport,” she says. “I just want the hard work we are doing during this pre-season, and that we will do during the season, to speak for itself. In my opinion, you shouldn't have expectations. Just work in the back and give everything game after game.”

Where that will take London City is something Putellas is clearly fascinated to learn, as she prepares to experience the WSL for the first time. It’s hard to argue that she is not the biggest signing in the history of the division. Already widely regarded as the best league in Europe, if not the world, the WSL's reputation has only been enhanced this summer by the arrivals of so many notable players, but the two-time Ballon d’Or winner, who looks primed to collect a third later this year, is top of the list.

Amid rumoured interest from clubs all over the world, it was the WSL that she chose as the destination for the next chapter in her illustrious career. Why? Well, there is the appeal of the all-round competitiveness, something that the other top leagues in Europe cannot match. “You never know what the result of the game will be,” Putellas notes. “We haven't started yet but if I have to imagine, all the games will push you to your limits.”

That feeds into something else Putellas is after. Despite all the accolades, one of her key motivations in moving to England was “improving myself as a footballer”, a comment that raises a fair few eyebrows as she makes it, given her world-class level. Indeed, when asked if she really believes she can still get better, Putellas’ reply comes with a slight chuckle, as if it’s strange to think otherwise. “Of course. Always,” she says. “Day after day, I want to learn things. That’s the way I see this job. Just keep going, never stop and be as good as I can.”

It’s quite a prospect, really, and one that will excite London City, intrigue fans of the WSL and frighten the other 13 teams in this league. Whether it results in Putellas’ new club being a serious factor at the top of the division come May, only time will tell. “I'm going to bring to the project whatever the project needs from me,” she affirms. “I'm 100% committed. I'm hungry to win, I'm hungry to be better day after day, to fight with my team-mates for the victory. I'm going to try to give my best to the team and let's see at the end of the season how good we were.”

For now, it’s been a quiet introduction to life in London. While finding a place to live and where to shop, Putellas has been relatively unbothered in a city with a population more than five times as large as her home of Barcelona, where she marked herself out as a club icon who transcended the women’s game. “It’s a big difference,” she says, admitting that requests for pictures or autographs in the street are certainly fewer.

Not that she didn’t enjoy that in Catalunya. “I really felt the love of supporters and how much they respected me,” she is keen to point out. But now she is getting to enjoy “another kind of lifestyle that's very different”.

That may only be until Putellas takes to the pitch and starts to make waves in England, though. One of the best players in the world, if not the best, has landed in the WSL. And she is ready to take it by storm.

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