The Women’s Super League returns this coming weekend.

The new season kicks off on Friday with London City Lionesses hosting Manchester United. Champions Manchester City are back in action on Sunday against Birmingham.

But who has come in this summer? Below, we pick out seven new signings to watch out for this season.

Giulia Dragoni, Chelsea

Since Dragoni’s debut for Inter Milan at the age of 16, Chelsea have kept a keen eye on the Italy midfielder. Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) criteria (a points-based visa system administered by the FA for overseas players) and post-Brexit regulations mean Chelsea, like all English clubs, cannot sign foreign players under the age of 18. But even as Dragoni signed for Barcelona in 2023, aged 17, Chelsea still hoped to one day secure the midfielder’s signature.

The reasoning is simple, according to sources at Chelsea and close to the player. Dragoni, says one source, could become one of the best midfielders in the world.

Operating generally as a No 8, Dragoni has been praised for her pressing intensity and her ability to move and carry the ball between lines. The 19-year-old’s football IQ is another point of praise, honed by her time at Barcelona, with her capable of operating comfortably in the No 10 position or out wide.

Chelsea have high hopes for Giulia Dragoni (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

A real strength is her press resistance and ability to progress the ball in tight spaces, beat defenders 1v1 and work quickly in short distances, qualities all necessary when faced with the low blocks of WSL sides. While on loan at Serie A side Roma last season, she scored eight goals and provided four assists across 29 appearances.

Dragoni has made more than 100 senior appearances for club and country, developing a maturity that belies her years, but those at Chelsea know that a growing period will be necessary as Dragoni adapts to the WSL.

Chelsea believe Dragoni has demonstrated an ability to push through challenges, including missing the 2025 European Championships due to injury, that prove she can adapt to the rigours of the WSL. Dragoni was the first foreign female player to live and train at La Masia. In 2024, she became the first player to win the Women’s Champions League, doing so with Barcelona, while also claiming the Italian Golden Girl award, honouring the best Italian player under 21 years old.

Manaka Matsukubo, Chelsea

If you haven’t been watching Matsukubo, this is your notice to start doing so. The 2025 NWSL midfielder of the year is now plying her trade in the WSL with Chelsea, and if the seven-time champions are to return to the top of England, Matsukubo will play a role in that recovery.

But for all the talk of the 22-year-old Japan international’s goalscoring ability – she scored 11, the most of any midfielder, during the last NWSL season – it’s her intelligence on and off the ball that those within the game admire most.

(Harriet Lander – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

At just under 5ft 1in, cunning has been a necessary part of Matsukubo’s game since she first joined her brother’s all-boys training session and scored her first goal. In the NWSL, shrewdness and intelligence became a calling card, from finding ways to win physical battles to being able to operate and read the game as a No 10 and a central striker. That records have fallen regularly — such as being the youngest player in NWSL history to score a hat-trick — is not a matter of coincidence but curation.

It is one of the reasons Chelsea had to fight hard for her signature, fending off offers from other Champions League clubs and even within the NWSL, according to multiple sources close to the player, but the opportunity to develop under head coach Sonia Bompastor was the clincher.

Holly McNamara, Everton 

McNamara ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament three times before the age of 21. Some may have been hesitant after such injury setbacks, but she put her foot on the gas, claiming consecutive A-League golden boots in the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons in Australia.

Her goal returns helped Melbourne City, whom she joined in 2021, secure their third consecutive title.

The 2022 A-League women’s young footballer of the year, who played as a lone striker, is versatile, fast, athletic and intelligent with her movement. She can play anywhere across the front three, and has previously dropped deeper into the No 10 position, but is more effective in the No 9 role. A clinical finisher, with a high expected goals rating, she is effective from crosses and cutbacks.

The Australia international, who plays understudy to Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord for the Matildas, is also a good ball-carrier and is not afraid to take players on one-v-one. In her early years, she would collect the ball from the halfway line and run the length of the pitch. Given she is used to doing things by herself, she can drift out of position and that will form part of her learning as she gels with her new team-mates.

Courted by teams from the WSL, NWSL and afar, Everton did well to secure her signature. It is a big transition moving so far from home to a new country, league and team and she will need time to adapt.

Mao Itamura, Liverpool

“In the first session, she just scored two bangers. I was like, ‘OK, yeah, you’re good’.”

Liverpool forward Anna Josendal recalls her first interaction with summer signing Mao Itamura with equal parts incredulity and awe. The Japan youth international, who signed from Feyenoord in July, turned 20 earlier this month, but she has already established herself as a forward with an ability and intelligence that belie her years.

A product of the JFA Academy in Fukushima, Japan, Itamura joined Feyenoord in January 2025. By the end of the 2025-26 campaign, she boasted eight goals and six assists in 20 matches, helped Feyenoord to a first European qualification and was named Women’s Eredivisie Player of the Year while also being shortlisted for the Johan Cruyff Talent of the Year award.

It is why Liverpool, among plenty of other clubs, have kept keen eyes on Itamura. That Liverpool could secure her signing is testament to the clear style of play espoused by head coach Gareth Taylor, but also how Itamura stands to fit within it. Last season, Liverpool’s finishing left plenty wanting, but Itamura, who can play across the front line but prefers the left to cut in on her dominant right foot, is believed to be one of the players capable of changing all of that.

Andrea Medina, Manchester United

The first thing to know about Manchester United’s summer signing Andrea Medina is that very little, if anything, can dampen her spirits.

“Positive mind, always,” the Spain youth international says. “My mom always says positive things attract more positivity.” The 22-year-old defender applies the same ethos to her playing style. A left-back by trade and preference, Medina has been described by those at United as being especially powerful and explosive in transition, keen to get involved in attack and overlapping with her left-sided winger. Even so, she’s capable of operating across the back line, particularly at centre-back, where Medina is likely to feature given United are in need of reinforcements and the left-back position currently being occupied by last summer’s signing Anna Sandberg.

In United’s pre-season friendly against Leicester City, Medina was one of two players slotted in alongside centre-back Maya Le Tissier in a kind of audition for the United’s captain’s centre-back partner. Medina, though just 5ft 4in, impressed.

Under new manager Eva Olid, United are expected to play out from the back and Medina’s ability on the ball will be crucial to that, as will her willingness to get involved in build-ups and push into midfield. How well she adapts to the WSL’s physicality, particularly among its forwards, will likely represent one of her biggest challenges.

Alice Sombath, Tottenham Hotspur 

France started the 2025 European Championship without two of their most experienced centre-backs: former captain Wendie Renard was not selected and Griedge M’Bock, who took on the armband, was injured. Up stepped then 21-year-old Alice Sombath, who did not look out of place.

Born to Thai parents, Sombath joined OL Lyonnes’ academy from rivals Paris Saint-Germain, and rose through the ranks under the watchful eye of now Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor. She spent six seasons at the French giants, winning a Champions League medal and five league titles, but most importantly learning from centre-backs Renard and M’Bock.

(Ali Painter – WSL/WSL Football via Getty Images)

She is a wise head on young shoulders and Tottenham, who had been monitoring her closely, value her maturity. Sombath is an aggressive defender who is comfortable in possession and competitive in her duels, which suits head coach Martin Ho’s game model.

At just 22 years old, Tottenham have astutely signed a player with very solid foundations and plenty of potential.

Lisa Baum, Arsenal 

Lisa Baum jinks one way and then the next, a drop of a shoulder and she has sold the defender. The 19-year-old winger loves those one-v-one duels.

She plays for her brother Dennis, who died in a car accident at the age of 17 in 2022. “I do a lot for him in my career,” she told Sport Bild. Her boots are inscribed with his initials and she wears tape with his name and a quote.

(Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

During Arsenal’s pre-season, the winger, born in Tanzania to a German father and Tanzanian mother, has got people talking. She is adept at playing on either flank, uses her pace to round players on the left or can cut inside from the right and finish with her preferred foot. With Olivia Smith on the opposite wing, it could be a frightening double attack.

A childhood fan of Bayern Munich but an admirer of Barcelona, the German youth international combines her athleticism and technical skill, tying defenders up in knots. She rose through the German leagues with Hamburger SV, where she earned her first professional contract, securing back-to-back promotions to the Bundesliga before joining RB Leipzig in 2025.

A year later, Arsenal have snapped up, in director of women’s football Clare Wheatley’s words: “One of the most highly rated young wingers in Europe.”