Aoife Mannion has bolstered Manchester City’s defensive options after joining on a two-year deal from Birmingham City Women.
The 23-year-old defender made 136 appearances for her former club where she was voted Player of the Season.
She also secured a place in last season’s PFA FA WSL Team of the Year alongside new team mates Steph Houghton and Demi Stokes.
Mannion will be reunited with her former teammate Ellen White, one of City’s seven Lionesses, who returned to England this week having scored six goals at the Women’s World Cup in France.
Normally playing at centre-back, Mannion will wear the number 2 shirt for City after joining the club.
She joins a club who are the current holders of the the 2019 Continental Cup and SSE Women’s FA Cup and can’t wait to help the club lift more silverware.
She said her objectives are: “To win, win a lot, win everything, don’t lose and if you do lose, learn from it quickly.”
Commenting on her move, Mannion added: “I’m so happy to be here, so happy to sign for this club and I just can’t wait to get started.
“The appeal of this club speaks for itself, it’s a club that’s been really successful, probably consistently the most successful out of all the WSL clubs, so I want to add to that.
“I want to bring something a little bit different, I want to bring my own personality.
With the Manchester derby coming up Mannion was equally effusive, she said: “It’s going to be so exciting, it’s going to be so immense…I’m so excited, especially with it being in the Etihad Stadium.
“I think we need to prepare really well in pre-season so that we can deliver the supporters the result that they want, which is a win to kick off the season.”
Mannion’s arrival will further bolster City’s defensive options – former defenders Abbie McManus and Jen Beattie have departed for Manchester United and Arsenal respectively.
City have already signed Matilde Fidalgo, a right sided full back.
Nick Cushing, manager of City’s double cup winning women’s team, added:
“Aoife was someone we knew was a very high-quality player and we tracked over the last season and we knew that she would fit not only into what we want as a player, but also as a person.
“I think her development over the past three seasons at Birmingham has been incredible.
She’s become a real dominant defender and such a good player in the Women’s Super League and she’s still very young and can become even better.
“To add her to our squad for next season is a real asset for us and we want to play a big part in helping Aoife to become an even better player.”