FIFA player of the year Carli Lloyd set to join Manchester City Women

14 February 2017 09:24

Carli Lloyd is set to join Manchester City Women after a deal was agreed to sign the World Cup winner and reigning FIFA player of the year.

Press Association Sport understands an announcement is likely to come on Wednesday, with the United States attacking midfielder joining the English champions on a short-term basis from the Houston Dash.

It is anticipated, according to a source close to the deal, that 34-year-old Lloyd will return to Houston in June.

Lloyd scored a hat-trick inside the opening 20 minutes of the 2015 World Cup final in Vancouver, capped by a stunning 55-yard goal, as the US beat Japan 5-2.

She has won 232 caps for the US since making her senior international debut in 2005, scoring 96 goals in that time.

Her signing will be the biggest coup yet by England's Women's Super League, with Lloyd joining a side vying to win the Women's Champions League.

City will face Danish side Fortuna Hjorring in the quarter-finals next month, with an away trip on March 23 followed by a home leg on March 30.

Lloyd scored winning goals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games women's football finals, and has landed FIFA's top individual award for the last two years.

As well as helping City in their Champions League campaign, Lloyd is set to feature in the Women's Super League's 'Spring Series', which runs from late April until the start of June.

The series will be filling a gap in the calendar created by the WSL's transition from being a summer competition to a winter league, and sees each team play nine matches.

City have so far declined to comment on the prospect of signing Lloyd.

She is set to join a squad that contains a host of England internationals, including captain Steph Houghton, defender Lucy Bronze and striker Toni Duggan, and prolific Scotland forward Jane Ross.

Source: PA