Manchester United captain Katie Zelem has left the Women’s Super League club after her contract expired.
The midfielder’s exit comes after it emerged that goalkeeper Mary Earps will leave for Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer this summer.
Zelem had been with United since the senior women’s team had been established in 2018, making well over 100 appearances at the age of 28.
Everybody at Manchester United would like to place on record their thanks to Katie for her fantastic service and wish her well with whatever’s next in her career, a statement from the club read.
Zelem joined United at eight years old and was part of the academy until 2013, when she began her senior career at Liverpool because, at the time, United did not have a women’s team.
Zelem then spent a season in the middle of Juventus before coming back to United and getting them promoted to the WSL in their debut season there.
Clubs in WSL and Europe have been circling around Grace Clinton for a while now. Last year saw the England midfielder spend the campaign out on loan at Tottenham Hotspur, who will seek to make the deal permanent this summer.
Clinton has one year left on her current contract.
In fact, new Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe made remarks last week that did not particularly go well with some of the fans, while confirming United has not started planning for the women and are focused on resolving the issues in the men’s side first.
“I don’t think we have quite got down to that level of detail with the women’s team,” he told Bloomberg. “I think we have been pretty much focused at the initial stages here of how we resolve the first team issues, and that’s been pretty full time for the first six months.”
Asked if the plans were to be confirmed, Ratcliffe added, “Correct.”
Bronze to make Barcelona exit
England defender Lucy Bronze is leaving Barcelona in the summer, the Spanish club have announced.
The 32-year-old right-back moved to Barca from Manchester City in 2022 and will now depart after two trophy-filled campaigns. Bronze turned out 70 times for Barcelona, winning seven trophies, but will not renew her contract that expires on June 30. Bronze won seven titles out of a possible eight during her time in Spain, which saw her picking up the Women’s Champions League alongside Liga F and Spanish Super Cup both twice and a Copa de la Reina.
An FC Barcelona statement read: “The club wishes Lucy Bronze all the best and every success in her new stage, both personally and professionally.”
England will still be represented at Barca despite Bronze’s exit, with goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck having signed a deal with the club earlier this month and Keira Walsh also in the squad.