Vivianne Miedema hopes to add 'new dimension' to powerhouse frontline at Man City

WSL all-time top goal scorer Vivianne Miedema has said she is 'excited' to connect with the likes of Lauren Hemp and Khadija'‘Bunny' Shaw next season, after penning a four-year deal with Manchester City.

The Netherlands international spoke candidly to press on the day of her unveiling, opening up about her personal reasons for leaving rivals Arsenal, and the role she believes she can play in helping the Cityzens win some silverware next season.

The 27-year-old’s exit from Arsenal as a free agent was confirmed in May after seven years, causing some surprise and shock across women’s football. Miedema had stayed silent on her reasons for leaving the club up until last week, when she admitted to finding it "difficult to be around and be at the club" upon her return after injury.

When probed further on her experience in north London in her first press conference since joining City, Miedema said she'd have "really liked to end the story in a different way", but she had to "prioritise" herself. 

"I hope that everyone understands that my time at Arsenal over seven years has been very special to me," she explained. "I would've really liked to end the story in a different way, but I had to prioritise myself. Some people will find that hard to understand and others will fully understand.

"City is the club that felt right to me from minute one and I think that I just need to look at the smaller picture for once and be worried about me. I think it's going to give me the most happiness on and off the pitch, from any other options that I had."

The beginning of a new era at City 

Miedema will be joining up with an already impressive frontline at City, including last season's WSL Golden Boot winner Shaw.

Speaking about what she hopes to bring to the club, the Netherlands international said: "I love the way they play. They create so many chances to score so many goals and I’m hoping that I can add another dimension to that.

"I'm really excited to link up with the likes of 'Bunny' Shaw, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly. I think once that clicks and connects, we can have a really exciting time. I hope I can help them raise their game even more."

Despite having ample experience playing as an attacking striker throughout her career, Miedema revealed that she's open to switching up her positioning on the pitch for City. 

"It's something I've spoken to Gareth [Taylor] about and I've been looking at my game. I've always had the flexibility in playing lots of different positions," she said. "I've been playing more left-wing coming inside, and I've been playing as a ten, and mostly as a nine. I'm more than happy to adjust, and play either or. Looking at the qualities they have, I think we'll have a lot of fun attacking wise.

"I think once we get a connection going we will really be able to bounce off one another and help each other. Depending on who we are playing against too, we will have different qualities that fit certain games best and it's about us trying to connect all those together, and if we do, it might make for a really interesting season."

Miedema suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury against Lyon in the UEFA Women's Champions League in December 2022 playing for Arsenal, putting her out of action for ten months.

After taking a long summer break to recoup, she's now begun preseason training with the Netherlands. However, she told 90min that "prioritising" her recovery at City will be vital, and that she will be working on it to "eventually be able to play 90 minutes again, and play every single game."

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