Layla Drury Set to Sign Historic Pro Deal at Manchester United Women

Manchester United Women are about to rewrite their own record books again – and the ink belongs to Layla Drury.

At 17, the forward is set to become the youngest player ever to sign a professional contract with the club, a landmark moment that underlines both her rapid rise and United’s growing faith in their academy.

Drury only stepped into senior football in January, thrown into an FA Cup tie against Burnley. She didn’t just cope. She scored in a 5-0 win, instantly becoming Manchester United Women’s youngest ever goalscorer. It was the kind of debut that doesn’t just get noted; it gets remembered.

By the end of the season, she had seven senior appearances across all competitions, five of them in the WSL, all achieved while she was still only 16. Each cameo added another layer of trust from the coaching staff, another reminder that this was not a token promotion but a player United intend to build around.

Her trajectory has been just as striking at international level. Born in Wales, Drury represented both Wales and England at youth level before committing her future to England in February. That decision, made so early in her career, reflects the level of attention around her and the expectation that she will feature on the biggest stages in the years ahead.

Inside the club, the plan is clear: Drury will spend next season full-time with the first team. No half measures, no gentle phasing in. United see her as part of the senior group now, and they want her development rooted in that environment.

Her story is already a record-breaking one. When she made that debut in January, she did so at 16 years and 220 days, breaking the club’s youngest-player record previously held by Lauren James since 2018. Now she is on the verge of another first: the only player to sign a professional contract with Manchester United Women before turning 18.

For United, this is more than a feel-good academy tale. It is a statement of intent. The club is determined to grow a core of homegrown talent, with an eye on long-term sustainability and a women’s team that can compete at the top without relying solely on big-name signings. Drury’s rise gives that strategy a face, a name, and a goal-scoring highlight reel before adulthood.

Anyomi Makes London City Lionesses Move

Elsewhere in the WSL, another forward is on the move, but at the opposite end of the experience scale.

London City Lionesses have secured the signing of Germany international Nicole Anyomi on a four-year contract after the end of her deal with Eintracht Frankfurt. It is a significant coup for the club and a clear signal of their ambition.

Anyomi leaves Frankfurt with 60 goals in 130 appearances, a record that underlines her consistency and threat in the final third. She was part of the Germany squad that reached the Euro 2022 final at Wembley, where England edged a tense contest to lift the trophy. That experience places her among the more seasoned attacking options now arriving in the English game.

Speaking to the club’s media channels, Anyomi described the move as the fulfilment of a long-held ambition, saying she had always wanted to play abroad and that the chance to join London City Lionesses and their project “means the world”.

On one side of the league, a teenager prepares to sign her first professional contract. On the other, an established international stakes out a new chapter in London. Different paths, same direction: the WSL is loading up on attacking talent, and the next season already feels a shade more dangerous for every defence in it.