Lucy Bronze to leave Barcelona on free transfer

By Sports Desk June 27, 2024

Lucy Bronze is leaving Barcelona after two trophy-laden seasons with the Catalan giants, they have announced.

Bronze joined Barca as a free agent in June 2022 after her contract with Manchester City expired and has gone on to make 70 appearances for the club.

She has won two Women's Champions League titles and two Liga F crowns – the second without losing a single game – as well as one Queen's Cup and two Spanish Super Cups.

The England right-back will depart when her contract expires on June 30, though, with a return to the Women's Super League with City mooted in some circles.

The 32-year-old could instead opt for a move to the United States, with National Women's Soccer League outfit Angel City another potential destination.

A statement from Barcelona read: "The club wishes Lucy Bronze good luck and success in her new stage, both personally and professionally."

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    But a return of just one point from seven matches will still be viewed as disappointing, particularly given they have already welcomed the likes of Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest to St Mary's.

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    An incredibly difficult fixture list has played its part, with Wolves facing five of last season's top seven – Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Liverpool – in the first seven matchweeks, and Manchester City are their next assignment after the hiatus.

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    The decision to sell captain Max Kilman to West Ham without investing any of the £40million proceeds on a new centre-back looked ill-advised in pre-season, and downright neglectful when Colombia international Yerson Mosquera suffered what is likely to be a season-ending knee injury in a 3-1 loss at Villa.

    Wolves have arguably been unfortunate at times, with their xGA figure of 14 being lower than those of Ipswich (15.7), Leicester (14.91) and Southampton (14.05). August's 6-2 defeat to Chelsea was a particularly freakish result, with Wolves winning the xG battle 1.96-1.68.

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    A lack of defensive options could hinder him, though. Wolves have just three fit centre-backs in Craig Dawson, Santiago Bueno and Toti Gomes. The club chose to spend a reported £21million on midfielder Andre – a supremely talented but arguably unnecessary buy – rather than a new defensive lynchpin on transfer deadline day.

    Fixtures against Man City and Brighton mean things could get worse before they get better, before a crucial run of eight games against Palace, Southampton, Fulham, Bournemouth, Everton, West Ham, Ipswich and Leicester. 

    Expect O'Neil's future to be decided by Christmas, one way or another. The Opta supercomputer now gives Wolves a 51.9% chance of being relegated, up from 20.9% in pre-season.

    The good news for Wolves fans? The last time they started a top-flight campaign without a win in seven games, in 2003-04, they got up and running at the eighth attempt, beating Man City 1-0.

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