By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
Manchester
City’s new Ladies squad could well be the favourites for next season’s Women’s
Super League after they revealed earlier this week their biggest capture so far
of the winter break.
England
international Steph Houghton has agreed terms to move to the club on a
three-year deal. The attacking left back has been a mainstay in the Arsenal
Ladies squad for the past three seasons, winning a clutch of honours. However
she has decided to join international colleagues Karen Bardsley, Jill Scott and
Toni Duggan at Eastlands from the New Year.
The
26-year-old came to prominence in the public eye with some starring
performances for Team GB’s ladies squad at the 2012 London Olympics. Houghton (pictured) scored goals in all three of the side’s group games, including a winner infront
of 70,000 at Wembley Stadium against Brazil.
She is one of
the WSL digital ambassadors and one of women football’s most iconic present
figures. For City to be able to snare her from a club as prestigious as Arsenal
Ladies, who had dominated the game for a decade before being pushed back into
third spot last season is impressive. This indicates that along with the
earlier signings of Bardsley and Duggan, they will be serious title contenders
for the fourth campaign of the WSL which will start in the spring next year.
Houghton told
the MCFC website: “I’m very excited. I’m
so glad that City came in for me because as soon as I heard their plans for the
future, I knew I wanted to be part of it.
“Women’s football is on the up and it’s
becoming more competitive. There are a lot of transfers going on at the moment
because every club has a vision to compete at the highest level.”
A keen fan of
Sunderland’s male football team and having started her career with the ladies
outfit on Wearside, Houghton went onto admit that it was a tough decision to
leave her previous club.
She added: “I’d like to thank Arsenal very much for
everything they’ve done for me. They’ve helped me to grow as a player and it
was a massive decision for me to leave. I had three very successful years there
and I didn’t take the decision lightly.”
A previous
winner of the WSL, alongside the Women’s FA Cup and with huge experience for
the Three Lions on the international stage, this is a big move for Houghton and
she has accepted a real challenge to cement Manchester City Ladies as
potentially the leading force in Women’s Football over the next few years.
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