It is a Michele Kang thing… swapping her players between her clubs.
London City Lionesses have recently been promoted to the WSL. To maintain that position when the league expands to 14 teams from 12, they need to bring in some veterans of the game. Danielle van de Donk played for Arsenal for six years until 2021, when she moved to Lyon, the other European club that Kang owns.
This is good news for Chelsea fans, depending on how you see it. Ellie Carpenter might be going to Chelsea as her new wife, Donk, moves to London. Both want to be together, so Chelsea is a creative team. However, it could mean Ashley Lawrence being swapped and leaving Chelsea for Lyon.
Anyway, back to the Dutch international midfielder who signed a two-year deal.
She won the Champions League, three league titles, two Trophee des Champions, and the Coupe de France in France.
She won the WSL during her years at Arsenal.
She said: “It’s been crazy, I’m feeling excellent!
“It’s just such a pleasant environment to be in, the club appeals to me, it reminds me of a little family, and I want to be a part of it!
“The project that London City have, it’s different but in a good way. London City have to battle for everything, and that’s my style.”
The midfielders are the first signings for the club as the transfer window opens. They won the Championship and sealed promotion, and they will be the last to win the championship under that name.
London City Lionesses is an independently run women's team that is not associated with a men's side.
She not only won the WSL for Arsenal in 2019 but also the 2017 Euros, reached the final of the World Cup in 2019, and won 167 international caps.
This side has the financial backing to compete with the big names of women's football in England; they will be the first independent club to play in the WSL.
Their owner, Michele Kang, also owns the Washington Spirit in the USA.
London City Lionesses split from Millwall in 2019 and had been regulars in the second division, but the arrival of Kang and her wealth in 2023 boosted the club due to the increased investment.
Van de Donk began her career in the Netherlands with Willem II before playing for VVV-Venlo and PSV Eindhoven.
After a brief spell with Goteborg in Sweden, she signed for Arsenal in 2015.
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