London City owner challenges WSL salary cap after big signings
Michele Kang has signed Alexia Putellas and Mary Earps for London City Lionesses, but her broader goal is to force a rewrite of the Women's Super League's financial rules to level the playing field for independent clubs.
London City Lionesses have secured the signings of Alexia Putellas and Mapi Leon from Barcelona, alongside former PSG goalkeeper Mary Earps, in a major summer transfer window spend.
The acquisitions come as club owner Michele Kang pushes to overhaul the Women's Super League's financial framework. The WSL currently operates a salary cap set at 80 per cent of relevant revenue plus an extra £4m, a structure Kang argues disadvantages newly promoted teams.
London City is the only top-flight English women's team not affiliated with a men's club. Kang highlights that rival clubs can inflate their revenue for salary cap purposes by allocating a percentage of their men's front-of-jersey sponsorship to the women's side. "As an independent team we have to earn every single penny for all our expenses," she said.
"I'm not against having a salary cap, but when you have an open system with promotion and relegation, for newly promoted teams it's very hard for them to compete with teams that have been in the league for a long time," Kang said. She noted that recently promoted clubs have routinely been relegated within a year.
Commercial viability vs DEI
Kang insists the heavy spending on players like the two-time Ballon d'Or winner Putellas is underpinned by a drive for genuine commercial viability. "I want to see this game stand entirely on its own and the players earn what they're truly worth, not because someone's generous or a corporation's writing a DEI cheque but the business of this game is generating that revenue," she said.
To comply with the league's financial rules while building the squad, the club is hiring advisors to drive ticket sales and commercial partnerships. "We have a full-court press on commercial and ticket sales so everything will be parallel," Kang added.
London City finished sixth in their debut WSL season. With the new squad additions, which also include Germany forward Nicole Anyomi and Janni Thomsen from Utah Royals, Kang’s immediate targets are clear. "Go all the way", she said. "I want to see them win a WSL title, I want them to qualify for European competition."
Kang is now lobbying the WSL and the FA to adjust the financial rules, arguing that any club with ambition and funding should have a path to challenge the established top four. "This is the first time WSL and FA in England has to deal with a fully independent team," she said. "It'll take some time but I'm working with owners and working with the league."
