Miedema reveals why she left Arsenal to help Manchester City end their long title drought

Vivianne Miedema has explained that the desire to help Manchester City return to winning ways was the driving force behind her move from Arsenal in the summer of 2024, after the Dutch striker played a central role in City’s first Women’s Super League title since 2016 last season.

Miedema, who spent seven years at Arsenal before crossing the divide to City, contributed 10 goals and five assists as Andree Jeglertz’s side ended Chelsea’s six-year stranglehold on the WSL title and went on to complete a domestic double with an FA Cup victory over Brighton.

“After having left Arsenal after seven years and moving to City, I wanted to come here and help the club win things because they hadn’t done that in a while,” Miedema said. “Coming back last season and doing what we did definitely felt like a full circle moment. It was really special to be part of it and to be able to celebrate the league and FA Cup win as well.”

The title was Miedema’s second in the WSL, having previously won it with Arsenal in 2019. Her first season at City was disrupted by injury — a frustration she acknowledged was compounded by the team’s collective injury problems — making last season’s success all the more meaningful.

“My first year was tough personally with injuries, but also as a team with all the injuries we had and we didn’t get the result that we wanted to get,” she said.

City’s title charge was aided by Chelsea’s absence from the Champions League, which freed Jeglertz’s squad from the fixture congestion that had burdened rivals. But Miedema was keen to emphasise the internal growth that underpinned the achievement.

“Coming in last summer, there were a lot of changes, new people coming in and a new coach coming in. But I think we showed so much progress over the year. We always believed that we could do really well, but a lot of people didn’t expect us to do as well as we did.”

With City now defending their title in an expanded 14-team WSL, Miedema acknowledged that the dynamic has shifted. Several high-profile signings across the division have raised the competitive bar, and she welcomed the challenge.

“For this year, regardless of if we are the champions or if we were chasing it, it doesn’t change our goals. Some of the girls haven’t been in this position before and it will be different,” she said. “Looking at all the signings that other clubs are making, I think the league is going to be extremely exciting to see how it’s going to pan out.”