She added that those fresh additions will help City compete for silverware in the immediate and long-term future.
Following last season’s second-placed finish in the Barclays Women’s Super League and ahead of our subsequent return to the Champions League qualifiers – Gareth Taylor has already added two new recruits quality aplenty to his squad.
All-time leading WSL goalscorer Vivianne Miedema has arrived from Arsenal and Japan international Risa Shimizu has signed from West Ham.
But O’Neill – who took over as Managing Director in December 2023 – says the Club are working hard to equip our squad with players who can help us consistently challenge for major honours.
“We’ve got a few more [coming],” she revealed on the latest episode of the Official Man City Podcast which is available to watch on CITY+ from 16:00 (UK) on Thursday 18 July.
“I can’t say who they are yet, but we have some top international talent I would say, plus some really high potential domestic talent who could be the future of Manchester City Women.
“For us, it’s about building a team who can win now and in the future.
“The recruitment we’re doing is about adding to our first team for this coming season in terms of improving our ability to win titles, but we also need to make sure we can sustain that over repeated seasons and that we have depth in the squad.
“When you think about the emergence of Khiara Keating and Jess Park in particular, we need to make sure those players are already in our squad and learning the way we play.”
O’Neill not only spoke of the importance of signing players who match our ethos on the Official Man City Podcast, but also highlighted the importance of securing the future of current City stars.
In April, for example, England international Lauren Hemp penned a new deal which will keep her at the Joie Stadium until 2027.
It followed manager Gareth Taylor, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, Yui Hasegawa, Khiara Keating and Leila Ouahabi in doing so across the past 12 months.
And our Women’s Managing Director hopes key players signing long-term contracts showcases the Club’s trajectory.
O’Neill added: “Renewals are a really important part of recruitment.
“Lauren’s extension hopefully is a big validation of our programme, what we’re trying to do and our aspirations.
“She wants to win titles now and be the best player in the world and we want to support her ambitions to do that.
“When she decided to stay, which we’re really glad she did, I think it gave everyone a boost. We will always be at the table for the best players internationally too.
“We want that mix, that depth and we need to build a winning machine that year after year, is relentless.
“Anyone can win the title once but as you can see with our men’s team, it’s about building a squad that can win back-to-back.
“That’s the real ambition.”
