Kerolin failed to report for pre-season at Manchester City before Barcelona switch
The Brazil forward Kerolin failed to report back for pre-season training at Manchester City in July before her transfer to Barcelona had been agreed, the Guardian has learned
The Brazil forward Kerolin failed to report back for pre-season training at Manchester City in July before her transfer to Barcelona had been agreed, the Guardian has learned.
Barcelona announced their lucrative signing of the 26-year-old on Tuesday but, as of Thursday afternoon, Manchester City were still yet to publish any reference to the transfer nor comment on the move.
It is understood that several of the staff and players at Manchester City were disappointed at what were perceived to be efforts by Kerolin to force a transfer to Barcelona and that her time at the club ended on a surprisingly sour note. She did not join back up for pre-season with the Women’s Super League champions, which began in late July, despite previously having been felt to have been on great terms with the squad.
The deal, understood to be worth an initial €1.2m (£1m), represents the largest transfer fee ever received by a WSL club, and the fee could rise further with add-ons to approximately £1.25m in the future, although this has not been officially confirmed. It is one of the largest transfer fees in global women’s football history.
Kerolin was part of the City side that lifted their first WSL title in a decade last season and also helped them win the Women’s FA Cup. But within weeks of those celebrations many of her City colleagues have been stunned after she did not say goodbye in-person. Kerolin’s representatives have been contacted for a response.
High-profile examples of such transfer standoffs have seen in men’s football but incidents in the women’s game have been comparatively rare.
City are understood to have no objections to the transfer in principle but sources have said the team were taken aback by the former North Carolina Courage star’s absence from pre-season fitness testing. For Kerolin, it is a dream move to the European champions, who beat OL Lyonnes in last season’s Women’s Champions League final.
City and Barcelona will meet in a friendly at the Joie Stadium on 15 August as the reigning domestic champions of England and Spain both step up their pre-season preparations.