World Cup winner Christen Press happy to have moved to 'football capital of the world'
Christen Press believes Women’s Super League will become the most attractive domestic club competition for all the best players after describing her own move to Manchester United as a chance to play in the “football capital of the world.”
Press is one of five current USA internationals to have made the move to England this summer and is adamant more will follow, partly because of the famous names of the clubs involved, but also because of our football culture and history.
“I think the reputation is absolutely growing and it has been for a while,” said Press when asked about the WSL’s progression since it was launched in 2011. “It's the football capital of the world. There's so much history here…
“I think from the vantage point of the global game, it's a league that is starting to invest on the women's side. Obviously, if this country decides to invest in the women's side, they have more resources than most. So, there's a huge opportunity there.
“At this point, you have a lot of the best players in the world already here. That makes competition great. I think it's going to be a league where there's not as many easy games as a lot of other European leagues.
“That's something that...players want to play in leagues where it's hard to win. I think also there's several top teams fighting for the Champions League spots, fighting for the cup titles, fighting for the league.
“It’s going to be challenging every step of the way and that's exactly what you want as a player, you want the opportunity to win, you want to fight, you want to play for top clubs, but you also want fierce competition and you want to be playing with and against the best.”
In the past, the best English players have had to move to the USA to advance their careers, but now the best players are starting to come here instead because of the rapid growth of the WSL and the quality of the teams involved.
This season’s title race is expected to be one of the closest yet, with four teams – Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and United – all genuine contenders. Holders Chelsea, along with City, will also be among the favourites to win the Champions League and end Lyon’s five-year dominance of the competition.
“I decided to play for Manchester United, because they offered an amazing chance for me to get back to football,” added the 31-year-old. who will be a key player for the USA when they look to defend their Olympic title in Tokyo next year. “After having been away for six months, which is the longest stretch of time of my life that I haven't played.
“So I had not been considering coming to Europe, early this year, and I think, you know, a lot of sights were towards the Olympics this summer and in March when football shut down in the United States and for myself, kind of all bets were off, and no one knew what to expect.
“It wasn't six months of thinking, you know, what am I going to do? I was sort of just living day to day try to figure out how I was going to get to a field the next day.
“When I found out that Manchester United was interested in signing myself and Tobin, I jumped at the opportunity to play for a team that's going to have an opportunity to fight for titles, and to play for a manager [Casey Stoney] that's really well respected.
“I think the history that goes into putting on this crest is something that I've never experienced. It's something that no club has in the United States and even the other international teams I play for don't have this type of rich history of football.
“So, it's a huge honour, and a lot of ways it feels surreal. I came to Manchester when I was 13 years old. When I was playing for a local team, we came over and played Manchester United development girls’ team.
“It was the first time I experienced the EPL and English football and I was blown away. So to be back here some decades later, and to be playing, it's an amazing opportunity. I hope that I can absorb as much of the football culture and the football magic that's here as possible.”
