Vivianne Miedema has looked back on her success with Manchester City and the challenge that lies ahead as the club aims to defend its title.

Last season, Miedema played a key role as Manchester City ended Chelsea’s six-year run as Women’s Super League champions and won the title under new manager Andree Jeglertz.

Manchester City secured their first WSL crown since 2016 in the previous campaign, and then completed a domestic double by defeating Brighton to win the FA Cup.

Miedema, who arrived from Arsenal in 2024, said that success was the result of a period of transition at the club and exactly the kind of achievement she had hoped to help City reach when she made the switch from fellow WSL side Arsenal.

Miedema won her second WSL title, having earlier lifted the trophy with Arsenal in 2019. She joined City in the summer of 2024 and, after a first season disrupted by injury, scored 10 goals and provided five assists last season to help the club win its first league title in 10 years.

“Every single league title is special for different reasons,” Miedema said.

“For me, after having left Arsenal after seven years and moving to City, I wanted to come here and help the club win things because they hadn't done that in a while.

“And my first year was tough personally with injuries, but also as a team with all the injuries we had and we didn’t get the result that we wanted to get.

“So coming back last season and doing what we did definitely felt like a full circle moment. It was really special to be part of it and to be able to celebrate the league and FA Cup win as well.”

After six years of Chelsea dominance, it was always going to take something special to take them off the top. But new manager Jeglertz, helped by the fact that City had no Champions League football after finishing fourth in the 2024/25 season, guided the side to exactly that achievement.

“Coming in last summer, there were a lot of changes, new people coming in and a new coach coming in. But I think we showed so much progress over the year.

“We always believed that we could do really well, but a lot of people didn't expect us to do as well as we did. Throughout the season, we adjusted and grew and that led us to win the league and the FA Cup too.

“For this year, regardless of if we are the champions or if we were chasing it, it doesn’t change our goals. Some of the girls haven’t been in this position before and it will be different.

“And looking at all the signings that other clubs are making, I think the league is going to be extremely exciting to see how it's going to pan out.”

This year, the league has expanded by two teams, taking the competition to 14 sides. Several high-profile players have also moved to the WSL this season, and Miedema said that says a lot about the current standing of the league.

“It’s amazing to see that so many big players want to come play in England and that the league has increased by two teams as well,” she added.

“It’s only going to get more exciting and more difficult to actually win it. To be in the league now and try to be successful again is going to be extremely difficult. But isn’t that why we love football?

“That’s the reason every good player wants to come to England, because you want to measure yourself against the best.”

After spending a season away from Champions League football, City will return to competing with Europe’s top sides.

“I’m really excited to be back but it's going to be tough because you're going to be travelling a lot, you're going to be playing a lot of games.

“I think some of the girls will have to get used to it. But it's a competition you want to be playing and you want to measure yourself with the best in Europe.

“I can't wait to see how we do in the Champions League because it’s a completely different challenge to playing in the WSL.”