Lucy Bronze: England defender confirms Lyon departure

England defender Lucy Bronze has confirmed she will leave Lyon when her contract expires at the end of this month, but will not say which club she will be joining.

Bronze, 28, has been linked with a move back to former club Manchester City.

“I won’t be staying at Lyon, I know that for sure,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Bronze has won eight trophies in three seasons at Lyon since joining the French club from City in 2017.

“I’ve obviously got links to City having played there before Lyon and having had a house there, but people will always make that assumption I guess,” added Bronze.

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‘We have superstars both on and off the pitch’

This year’s Champions League resumes on Friday with a 10-day tournament in northern Spain after it was postponed in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, mirroring the format of the men’s competition.

Bronze and England team-mate Alex Greenwood signed short-term contract extensions to cover the remainder of the tournament after their original deals expired at the end of June, with Lyon chasing a fifth successive Champions League title.

“The great thing about Lyon, the reason we are such a force in Europe, is because we have a massive squad full of depth,” said Bronze.

“The players on the bench could probably play in any team in Europe. We have superstars both on and off the pitch.”

Bronze ‘excited’ at Wiegman appointment

Bronze also said the she was “excited” at the appointment of Sarina Wiegman as new England boss.

Wiegman, currently the Netherlands manager, will succeed Phil Neville as the Lionesses’ head coach in September 2021.

“A lot of the girls have spoken with each other already and we are all excited,” said Bronze, who has 81 caps for the national team.

“You look at her pedigree and what she has done with the Dutch national team. She has literally done what we want to do, she’s made back-to-back finals and she’s won a trophy as well.

“So it’s exciting that we’ve got someone now who has experienced that and can take us to that next level of being in finals consistently.”