Georgia Stanway Announces Departure from Bayern Munich
Image credit: Michael Emilio via Wikimedia Commons
After 4 years at the club, England international Georgia Stanway has announced she will leave Bayern Munich in the summer.
In an official statement released via Instagram, Stanway stated that ‘The decision to leave Munich and my team was incredibly difficult and definitely not easy’, and that she wants to ‘say goodbye to the club and the fans at the end of the season with as many titles as possible’. Stanway transferred to the club in 2022 from WSL side Manchester City and has since won three consecutive Bundesliga titles (2023, 2024, 2025), appearing over 100 times for the dominant German side. She was the first-ever female English player at Bayern, and will now leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.
So what’s next for the seasoned international?
Stanway will leave as a free agent in the summer, but is permitted to sign a pre-contact agreement with another club. She is already attracting substantial interest from WSL sides, which could mean supporters seeing a fan-favourite Lioness playing back on English soil. Stanway previously played for Manchester City from 2015-2022, and during her time, became vital for the club in their hugely successful run, winning the WSL in 2016, and both the FA and League cups three times.
According to Sky Sports, Champions League-winning side Arsenal have emerged as the frontrunners to sign her, as reportedly the only club yet to have had specific talks surrounding a pre-contract deal. With the English league more competitive than ever, signing a player as successful as Stanway could further Arsenal’s advancement in future seasons, with the club having not won the domestic league since 2019. She has previously praised Arsenal’s success and ethic as a team, and would join six of her fellow Lionesses there. However, the success of such a dominant club like Chelsea, or Manchester City’s impressive run this year, and current six-point lead in the league, could be attractive for Stanway if these clubs also start to arrange talks.
A return to the WSL is an exciting prospect for both clubs and fans, with Stanway having huge success and experience under her belt, not just in the German league, but having also racked up 87 caps for England, reaching the final of the 2023 World Cup, and winning the Euros back-to-back. It’s not difficult to see why the midfielder is attracting so much attention. As a regular starter at both club and international levels, she is an excellent box-to-box operator who also poses an attacking threat. She is recognised as one of the best midfielders currently in the world, and could surely make a difference to next season’s league standings if she is secured by Arsenal.
The league may certainly be in a different place than it was when Stanway left three years ago, but it is undoubtedly more than ready for her return.