Lionesses star Georgia Stanway set to make sensational WSL transfer comeback as imminent Bayern Munich exit is confirmed

Rumours have floated around for a while now that Stanway could leave Bayern at the expiration of her current contract this summer and, on Saturday, she acted to confirm as much, before the second half of the season gets underway in Germany.

In a statement, Stanway said: "I am incredibly grateful to Bayern for the past years and, thankfully, my time here isn't over yet. The decision to leave Munich and my team was incredibly difficult and definitely not easy for me. I've made friends and memories here that will last a lifetime, and I've also been able to develop enormously as a player and as a person. I will give everything for the club and its sporting success until my very last day, just as I have for the past three and a half years, and I want to say goodbye to the club and the fans at the end of the season with as many titles as possible."

It's a big blow for Bayern, who also lost star striker Lea Schuller to Manchester United earlier this month. Stanway has become a key player for the German giants ever since her arrival in Munich back in 2022 and the pair have enjoyed a lot of domestic success together, winning three successive Bundesliga titles, two Supercups and the DFB Pokal. Indeed, Stanway's enjoyment at the club was made clear when she signed a new contract in late 2023. However, Bayern will be without the England midfielder as they strive to continue that domestic dominance while also taking steps forward in the Champions League, where results have been underwhelming since a semi-final run in 2021.

"As the first English player at Bayern Women, Georgia Stanway not only made history but also stole our hearts," Bianca Rech, Bayern's director of women's football, said. "She matured into a top European player in Munich and played a key role in the club's success in recent years with her commitment and character. We talked a lot and openly about her future and when she told us that she now wanted to try something new, her reasons were completely understandable. We thank her for the time we spent together and wish her all the best for the future. But we still have a few months left, and we'll make them as successful as possible together."

So, what could that new challenge be for Stanway? The midfielder has been able to talk to clubs abroad since the turn of the New Year, given she was entering the final six months of her contract, and BBC Sport understands she has been speaking with Arsenal, who are the frontrunners for Stanway's signature right now.

The Gunners do have good options in midfield but there are a lot of first team players who are out of contract this summer, so the make-up of their squad could change quite drastically. It's also worth noting that Kim Little, the veteran midfielder who has been instrumental in Arsenal's success both recently and historically, celebrates her 36th birthday in June. As such, reinforcing the position for the long-term makes sense, to cushion the huge blow that will occur when Little does decide to call it a day, even if she hasn't hinted at doing so quite yet and is still playing at a wonderfully high level.

That said, there is plenty of interest in Stanway from elsewhere, too, and plenty of time for the England star to make a decision on her future.

In the meantime, Stanway's focus will be on ending this chapter of her career in a positive manner. Bayern Munich have already won the Supercup this season and they are in pole position for what would be a fourth successive Bundesliga title, sitting six points clear of Wolfsburg at the top of the table with the competition just past its halfway stage. The club are also into the quarter-finals of the DFB Pokal, with a clash against Hamburg to come in March, and the last eight of the Champions League, where they are set to face either Atletico Madrid or Manchester United later this year for a place in the semi-finals.

Signing off with a successful run in Europe would be a great way for Stanway to close out her time at Bayern, as it is in that competition that the club has underwhelmed during her time in Munich. A 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona back in October suggested that there was more work to be done in order to achieve as much, but subsequent wins over Arsenal, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain secured automatic qualification to the last eight and suggested Bayern can be a real threat in the competition before Stanway bids farewell.