{"id":615451,"date":"2026-06-01T15:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/615451\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T15:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:43:09","slug":"mary-earps-mapi-leon-on-verge-of-joining-london-city-lionesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/615451\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Earps &#038; Mapi Leon on verge of joining London City Lionesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps has agreed personal terms to join London City Lionesses this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It is understood the Women&#8217;s Super League club also have a verbal agreement in place to sign Spain defender Mapi Leon, who left Barcelona last month after nine years there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Both players are expected to sign contracts this month, according to sources, as London City Lionesses set about demonstrating their summer ambition in the WSL transfer window.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Earps&#8217; expected return to England would be a high-profile move, having earned numerous individual accolades during a successful international career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The 33-year-old is set to join from Paris St-Germain at the end of her contract following two years in France.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">She made 22 appearances in the Premiere Ligue this season, keeping 12 clean sheets as PSG finished third &#8211; 13 points behind champions Lyon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The two-time Fifa Best Goalkeeper of the Year award winner played a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/m002dg5n\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">crucial role in England&#8217;s victory at Euro 2022<\/a> and their route to the 2023 World Cup final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">She spent five years at Manchester United, making more than 100 appearances, and helped them win their first major trophy in 2024 as they lifted the Women&#8217;s FA Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Spain international Leon has recently left Barcelona, where she won 27 trophies as part of one of Europe&#8217;s most successful teams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The 30-year-old won four Champions League titles at Barcelona, including this season&#8217;s edition. She started in their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/live\/c2d2z06pypyt#Report\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">4-0 win over Lyon<\/a> in the final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Leon has made 54 appearances for Spain but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/63318717\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">boycotted the national team<\/a> for almost three years alongside several team-mates because of disagreements over working conditions and a falling-out with the Spanish Football Federation, which began in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">She withdrew from selection for the 2023 Women&#8217;s World Cup as Spain went on to beat England in the final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The centre-back returned in October 2025 and started the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/live\/cg5m255n6eyt#Line-ups\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nations League final<\/a> a month later as Spain beat Germany 3-0.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">London City Lionesses, who are backed by American businesswoman Michele Kang, finished sixth in their first season in the WSL.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">They could have an extraordinary summer as they are also continuing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/articles\/cd9ppwqpvqdo\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pursue two-time Ballon d&#8217;Or winner Alexia Putellas.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Last week, Putellas, 32, announced she is to leave Barcelona after 14 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Putellas&#8217; decision on her future promises to be the biggest news of the summer transfer window, while a number of high-profile players are switching clubs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Australia captain <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/articles\/cj6px5gk4wko#:~:text=After%20six%2Dand%2Da%2D,trophy%2Dladen%20career%20in%20England.\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sam Kerr is available on a free deal<\/a> following her exit from Chelsea, while the Blues are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/articles\/c7v9460e0pro\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">set to sign Arsenal&#8217;s versatile defender Katie McCabe.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Manchester City are favourites to bring in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/articles\/cm2p62jq70qo\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">England forward Beth Mead<\/a> following her Arsenal exit and have also been linked with a move for Chelsea&#8217;s Niamh Charles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Meanwhile, Arsenal are set to sign England midfielder Georgia Stanway from Bayern Munich and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/articles\/c937e402z5xo\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spain defender Ona Batlle<\/a> from Barcelona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps has agreed personal terms to join London City Lionesses this summer. It is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-615451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}