Busy summer promises the best season yet

Anticipation is high for the new WSL campaign after ambitious recruitment brought some of the world’s leading players to England,

Clubs have been making headlines as the conveyor belt of additions kept rolling

Harder will be an invaluable asset to Chelsea, already rich in talent up front

Trying to keep pace with player transfers this summer has felt like a round-theclock challenge. Such has been the surge in marquee deals in the Women’s Super League, that to move away from Twitter for anything more than a couple of hours would risk missing another major unveiling.

It could not be better news, after a painful six months of women’s sport waiting in the wings. Finally, the excitement is building. We are yet to see a ball kicked in the top division, even so the clubs have been making headlines as the conveyer belt of glittering additions to squads kept rolling.

After nearing 200 days without WSL action, the transfers have kept existing supporters of the game waiting on tenterhooks – while also attracting the attention of the world. Players’ names were trending online and brought exposure to the league that many worried would drop off the face of the Earth with such a gap in competitive play. The anticipation feels higher than ever, for what is being dubbed as potentially the best season in the English league’s history.

It finally felt like players were being marketed as the great protagonists and assets to the game that they are. Such work began with the World Cup last year, with the likes of Lucy Bronze and Megan Rapinoe gaining worldwide recognition in the international game. Then Chelsea signing Sam Kerr wheeled into Heathrow with her loaded suitcase trolley during last season’s winter transfer window, the deal that broke the dam for the WSL.

In July, Chelsea stalwart Anita Asante’s move to WSL debutants Aston Villa kicked off proceedings, while Australia’s Ella Mastrantonio joined Bristol City later that month. But in August the market really took off as internationals made their way to England in droves.

France’s Valerie Gauvin joined Everton on Aug 6; four days later Sam Mewis of the United States shook the league when she joined Manchester City; just over a week later her team-mate Rose Lavelle followed; the next day Wales and OL Reign’s Jess Fishlock moved to Reading on loan. Lavelle and Mewis are a huge coup for City and could give the club the edge in midfield needed to challenge Chelsea, who bettered them last season by a 0.1 point margin in a points-per-game system.

“I’m just so excited to see all this top talent come to the UK,” Emma Hayes said ahead of her Chelsea team’s win over City in the Community Shield last weekend.

“This is what I wanted for the league. This is, for me, a dream scenario.”

Behind her smile was the knowledge her side had made a late swoop for Wolfsburg and Denmark goal machine Pernille Harder, announced earlier this week. Harder is the record signing in women’s football and will be an invaluable asset to a club already rich in talent up front.

At Arsenal, a former Wolfsburg team-mate of Harder’s, Noelle Maritz, has already made an impact. Australia’s Steph Catley and Lydia Williams also joined compatriot Caitlin Foord to add to Joe Montemurro’s international squad.

Even mid-table, we have witnessed international players getting in on the action. England’s Rachel Daly – the NWSL Challenge Cup’s most valuable player – became the latest on Thursday, in her surprise move to West Ham on a four-month loan.

A flurry of further signings could still be to come. The Telegraph first reported in June that Lyon and England pair Bronze and Alex Greenwood are expected to join Manchester City, and they should be announced ahead of the Sept 10 deadline. Bronze became the first England player of any gender to win the Champions League three times in a row last Sunday, but has long expressed her desire to come back to the WSL and repeat that success with an English side.

The pendulum seems to have firmly swung away from European powerhouse Lyon, as players are looking to challenge at top WSL sides. The English league was arguably already the most competitive in Europe already – the four points that separated the top three at last season’s premature end evidence of that. It has been boosted by three Champions League spots for this season too.

A string of opening fortnight matches are due to be broadcast on BT Sport and the BBC, and this week the Football Association announced a major broadcast deal with NBC in the US, such is the appetite there for the English game.

Of course, the question now is whether the talent will deliver. The good news regardless is that the world is watching.