In the 2025/26 season Manchester City will be looking forward to life under a new manager after Gareth Taylor’s shock sacking in March just days before the League Cup final.Nick Cushing was in charge for the rest of the season as interim.
The Manchester side will be looking to win their second ever WSL in 2026 with their only previous win having come a decade ago.
Since the 2015/16 season they have come close on numerous occasions finishing second in five out of the last eight seasons.
2024/25 Season Recap
In 2024/25 the citizens had a fantastic start to the season under the stewardship of Gareth Taylor. Every single side Manchester City had faced before their November 16th loss to Chelsea had failed to break them down.
The WSL campaign began with a 2-2 draw at the Emirates against Arsenal. This was then followed up by an impressive six league wins on the bounce which was the most consecutive league wins the citizens would string together all season.
Man City successfully booked their place in September for the 2024/25 Champions League after their 2nd place finish in 2023/24. They beat French side Paris FC 8-0 on aggregate with a 5-0 win away from home and a 3-0 win at the Joie Stadium.
The Citizens were placed in Group D of the Champions League and had a successful group stage winning five out of their six games against Barcelona, Hammarby IF and SKN St. Pölten.
The one loss came in Barcelona on the sixth and final group stage gameweek. It was the Quarter Finals in which they would bow out to Chelsea after having won the first leg 2-0 they were well beaten 3-0 in the second leg.
Other competitions saw a run to the FA Cup semi-final having beat Ipswich, Leicester and Aston Villa before an exit at the hands of fellow Manchester side Man United.
The Subway League Cup was the cup competition in which Man City did the best in as they made it to the final in Derby having beat Man United and Arsenal away from home in the quarter and semi-finals. But, they failed to take down Chelsea at a time where their manager had just departed.
Taylor’s exit days before the final would lead to a run of three losses in four games with the citizens facing Chelsea four games in a row in March. But Cushing led the side to a positive end of the season as they went unbeaten in their last five.
Khadija Shaw starred for Man City throughout the season in numerous competitions as she was the club’s top scorer in the WSL and Champions League.
Transfer Activity
There have been a host of both arrivals and departures from Jeglertz’s side over the summer period.
Scottish goalkeeper Eartha Cumings should add depth between the sticks having recently been at Rosengard. Cumings has played in England before having spells at Bristol City, Charlton, Everton and Liverpool.
Swiss wing back Iman Beney has joined the club having made the move from Swiss side Young Boys to England. Canada international Jade Rose would also join City on a four-year contract. Rose brings versatility as a centre back who can also slot in at full back. In 2023 she won Canada Soccer Women’s Young Player of the Year.
Laura Wienroither has moved back to Manchester after having spent the second half of last season on loan at the club. Midfielder Sydney Lohmann, has joined from Bayern Munich after having made 173 appearances in Germany.
Sydney Lohmann of Germany. (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Spaniard Laia Aleixandri ended her three years in England to move back to Spain as she joined Barcelona. Aleixandri previously represented Atletico Madrid from 2017-22.
Chloe Kelly completed a move back to Arsenal over the summer as her contract with City expired. The 27-year-old was on loan at the Gunners for the second half of last season and previously played 17 games for them at the start of her career after having come through the academy.
Japanese midfielder Aemu Oyama has completed a six-month loan to FC Rosengard while Jill Roord has also left the club for FC Twente.
Player to Watch – Yui Hasegawa
Yui Hasegawa of Manchester City. (Photo Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Hasegawa has been a consistent performer over her three years with City. In each year she has been at the club she has always been named in the WSL Team of the Year.
The Japanese midfielder only missed just one game last season as she has been an ever present in the side. She has shown that she is an impressive carrier of the ball as no other player in the division completed more than her 36 dribbles last season.
Furthermore, she averaged over a chance created per game and this will be essential to attacking success,
In addition, the 28-year-old won an average of four duels per game last season showing ability when going into challenges to recover the ball.
The Strongest XI
Formation (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Khiara Keating
Defenders: Kerstin Casparij, Jade Rose, Alex Greenwood, Naomi Layzell
Midfielders: Yui Hasegawa, Sydney Lohmann, Vivianne Miedema
Forwards: Kerolin, Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp
The Manager – Andreé Jeglertz
Andree Jeglertz, manager of Manchester City Women during a training session. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
The Man City job is Jeglertz’s next challenge in his 15-year career in football management so far.
He has previously managed Finland, Umea, Linkopings FC and Denmark.
During his time at Umea, he won the Damallsvenskan Manager of the Year on two occasions while also winning the UEFA Women’s Cup.
The summer however was not the best for Jeglertz as Denmark were knocked out in the group stage of the Euros losing three games from three and also suffering a heavy defeat against Sweden 6-1 in the Nations League.
City fans will hope that Jeglertz’s arrival can improve their chances of silverware with their last trophy being the League Cup in 2022.
Season Expectations
Man City failed to qualify for the Champions League because of their 4th place finish and will be hoping to re-enter the top three.
It was Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United earned qualification last season.
A better league position could possibly be on the cards with less Champions League games.
In terms of cup competitions City will be hoping to win one of the FA Cup or League Cup having fallen short in both two competitions last time out being knocked out in the semi final and finishing as runner-up.