Manchester City sign highly-rated Bristol City defender in 'surreal' summer transfer

Manchester City have confirmed the signing of highly-rated defender Naomi Layzell from Bristol City.

The 20-year-old has signed a four-year deal with the club and will wear the No.3 shirt for the 2024/25 Women’s Super League (WSL) campaign. Layzell was an integral part of Bristol City's promotion to the top flight in the 2022/23 Women’s Championship season, playing 20 of their 22 matches and conceding just 12 goals throughout the campaign.

The England youth international made 16 WSL appearances last term and impressed despite the Robins' relegation, winning the club's Young Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season Awards. She becomes City's sixth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Vivianne Miedema, Risa Shimizu, Aoba Fujino, Eve Annets and Ayaka Yamashita.

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Layzell said: “It’s quite surreal to be honest. You always want to play for the top teams as a young player and I think joining City is an exciting opportunity for me.

“Playing alongside and against top elite professionals in the world is just a brilliant opportunity and a really hard one to turn down. I grew so much as a person at Bristol City, but I felt it was time for me to find a new challenge. I’m really excited to get involved.”

Manchester City Women Managing Director Charlotte O’Neill added: “If you play for a club like City, you compete for everything you are involved in and that is what we are aiming to do with the squad we are building. Naomi is another young homegrown player with plenty of potential.”

Head Coach Gareth Taylor said: “We‘re pleased to add