Kadidiatou Diani becomes London City Lionesses' sixth signing of blockbuster summer transfer window after joining from Michele Kang-owned Lyon

Diani announced her surprise departure from Lyon on Monday. The 31-year-old was one of the club's key players and still had a year left on her contract but revealed on social media that she would be leaving this summer, after winning six trophies in three seasons.

Within hours, her next destination became apparent as it was widely reported that Diani would be joining another of Kang's clubs: London City Lionesses. On Wednesday morning, that was confirmed, with the English side announcing that Diani had arrived and signed a three-year deal. BBC Sport understands that a fee of over £500,000 ($670,000) has been paid to Lyon for the player.

Speaking upon the announcement of the move, Diani said: "I’m really happy to have signed here. It is an opportunity for me to discover a new country, a new city, a new team and I can’t wait to start this next chapter. I’m excited to meet my new team-mates, staff, work at the training ground and the stadium and meet the fans.

"It’s an independent club and very ambitious. It’s something which is quite rare in women’s football and something I believe in a lot. We don’t necessarily need to depend on a men’s club to compete at the highest level, win titles and have a lot of success. I believe in the project.

"I have gained a lot of experience and played in major competitions with my clubs and also with the national team. The WSL is very competitive and I’m really excited to start this new chapter. It’s a new and big challenge and I love challenges. We have objectives, to win as many matches as possible and qualify for the Champions League. Winning a trophy for this club would be brilliant too. I think we are going to experience a very beautiful season."

There's every reason to believe that London City can have a big season as Diani's arrival is the continuation of a statement summer transfer window. Putellas, the two-time Ballon d'Or winner who could well scoop up a third later this year, is the headline signing, but Diani is also a world-class player and so is Mapi Leon, the former Barcelona defender who is arguably the best centre-back in the world.

Earps, meanwhile, arrives to strengthen the goalkeeping department, with Elene Lete having struggled at times last season, and Nicole Anyomi has joined the club after racking up 13 goals and six assists in 20 Bundesliga starts in the 2025-26 campaign. Janni Thomsen, the versatile Denmark international, rounds out the arrivals, which have come alongside seven departures and six contract renewals.

Head coach Eder Maestre will be tasked with ensuring that mass turnover doesn't have a negative impact and will hope he can establish some cohesion in this much-changed side early on. If achieved, it's not hard to imagine London City having a very good season, challenging for silverware and the places at the top of the WSL.

As for Diani's stated desire of qualifying for the Champions League, though, that is where things get a little murky. UEFA rules state that: "No individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition."

On the men's side, Crystal Palace were anticipating playing Europa League football last season, for example, but were demoted to the Conference League because their then-largest shareholder, John Textor, also had a controlling stake in Lyon, who had also qualified for the Europa League.

Asked about multi-club ownership in May, Nadine Kessler, UEFA's head of women's football, said there would be no exceptions to this rule. "Why would we want to preserve the sporting integrity of men's football, but not of women's football? It's out of the question," she said. "In any sport you want to preserve sporting integrity, that's the most important thing. There is the evolution of multi-club owners and women's football and they obviously invest a lot into the game, which is also important, but at the same time, when it comes to playing in one football competition there will be no different approach or no exceptions."

What that means for London City's chances of fulfilling that goal of qualifying for the Champions League, should they finish in the WSL's top three places in this upcoming season, only time will tell. In May, ESPN reported that London City had been 'exploring potential solutions' that would allow the club to compete in the UWCL if both they and Lyon, the eight-time winners, qualified.