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A two-time title winner has explained why the Bromley-based club should be expected to compete for silverware as soon as this season.

Manchester City’s women’s side completed the double last season, but there is no certainty they will dominate again in the same way this term.

Andree Jeglertz’s team won the FA Cup at the end of May after securing the Women’s Super League title earlier in the month, their first league triumph in 10 years.

That success brought Chelsea’s streak of six straight league titles to an end, with the Blues finishing third behind Arsenal, who won the Champions League in 2025.

All of last season’s top three will head into the new campaign with serious hopes of competing for the biggest honours once again, and London City Lionesses may also enter that conversation.

The Bromley-based side are only in their second WSL season after winning promotion, but under owner Michele Kang they have spent heavily to bring in several high-profile signings.

This summer, London City Lionesses have added Mary Earps, Mapi Leon and Kadidiatou Diani, along with two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, arguably the biggest signing the WSL has ever seen.

When asked which women’s side she expects to be the strongest in the country this season, England great Fara Williams said there is no clear-cut answer.

“That’s a difficult one,” the TNT Sports pundit told FFT. “There have been so many signings, so many changes.

“Arsenal have made some real key signings, Manchester City have pretty much kept hold of their same squad — Kerolin has gone to Barcelona, but they’ve brought in Beth Mead.

“London City have heavily invested in big-name players, so it’s whether they can mould that together in a season and be real contenders, and we can’t ever rule out Chelsea, with the history of their women’s team.

“I think it will still be those three top teams, and London City could have a real push in trying to change that — especially with City, Chelsea and Arsenal all playing Champions League football as well.”

London City Lionesses ended their first WSL season in sixth place last term, but Williams believes they can make up ground quickly after their marquee arrivals, especially Putellas.

“It makes a big difference, the level of the player and how that impacts the rest of the squad,” she said.

“I think it will show quite early in the season for them. I was a part of a Liverpool team that was a brand-new team when we ended up becoming back-to-back WSL champions in 2013 and 2014. It definitely can happen with the right group of players.

“With the experience that Arsenal and Chelsea and Manchester City have, it will be hard to break that, but top players have signed, experienced signings. Mary Earps is massive for them in goal.

“I think their intention will be to challenge this season. Last year was about bringing in players of experience to keep them in the league, because teams that come up tend to go back down.

“It was about establishing themselves in the WSL, which they did quite convincingly. Then adding to that, the names that have come in this summer, the experience within that team now.

“There’s no doubt that among them and the owners, they’ll be expecting to be pushing for that title this year.”

While London City Lionesses have introduced an intriguing fresh angle to the women’s game in England, it is also true that, historically, clubs that have progressed by spending heavily have not always been especially popular across the country.

Williams, however, believes London City Lionesses must follow that route if they are to break into the top level.

“They have to — they have to buy the biggest names in order to create a fanbase, because they’re a new team,” she said.

“They’re not affiliated with a men’s team, they haven’t been established long enough for women’s fans to be a part of their fanbase. In the women’s game, what tends to happen is that fans follow individual players around.

“What better player to bring in than one of the world’s best in Alexia Putellas, and try to bring that fanbase? Draw fans in that want to get a sighting of her live.

“They have to spend the money. In order to compete nowadays, whether it be the men’s or women’s game, it’s those who are prepared to put their hands in their pocket and bring in the very best who are the ones who seem to be successful.”