‘It really suits that’ – Vivianne Miedema explains decision to join Manchester City from Women’s Super League rivals Arsenal

It was quickly reported that Manchester City were leading the race to sign Miedema on a free transfer and, amid interest from many other top teams, that was the next chapter that the 27-year-old. It was announced on Friday that she had signed a three-year contract with the club and, as she was unveiled, the forward explained why she made that decision.

“Having thought really, really hard about my future after leaving Arsenal, I think the main thing that popped up was that I want to be at a team that is playing good football and I think, in women’s football right now, City has a really clear philosophy,” Miedema said. “They’ve obviously done really well last season and I think if I look at the way I want to play, it really suits that. It’s obviously massive bonus as well that I do stay in the WSL. I think it was the best fit for me.

“I’m quite fortunate because I do know my two Dutchies here. I also do know a lot of the English girls already. I definitely spoke with Jill [Roord] about everything. She really, really enjoys it [here] and I think if Jill enjoys it, it must be a good place, so that also made the choice a lot easier. I think me and Jill have got a very similar mindset in football. We both want to play football, we both want to feel appreciated and she said, ‘It’s really, really good here’.

“The reason I chose City is because I think they’ve got the same ambitions as me. They want to win the league, they want to win titles and that really applies to what I want as well. I think over the last couple years, the development has been really good. They’ve got such a clear philosophy on how they want to play and I really, really think that we can take this team to the next level. I’m really excited to see what that next level is actually going to bring us.”

Arsenal have already acted to reinforce their forward line after Miedema’s departure, signing Mariona Caldentey from Barcelona. Meanwhile, Man City are expected to follow this first summer signing with a second in the next few days, with Japan international full-back Risa Shimizu primed to join on a free transfer from West Ham.

The Netherlands star will join up with her new team-mates in pre-season after the upcoming international break, during which she’ll hope to help the Dutch secure qualification for next summer’s European Championships.