Manchester United Women have confirmed the signing of Jess Park from rivals Manchester City Women on a four-year deal.

United made Park their top target on Deadline Day after reluctantly accepting a bid from City for Grace Clinton, a Lionesses team-mate of Park, on Wednesday.

Park scored five goals and picked up one assist in 21 WSL games last season. The 23-year-old has 20 England caps to her name and was a part of their Euro 2025 winning squad in July.

After signing for Man Utd, Park told the club’s media: “I am really happy to be here and can’t wait to get started.

“I wanted to break out of the boundaries and push myself to take on a new challenge. I’m the sort of person who wants to keep improving and pushing limits, and I think this is the perfect place for me to do that.

“I’m a player who wants the ball, and when I get it I like to look up and try and make things happen for my teammates, so I think I can fit in really well here. I know the ambitions are very high and I want to help the team push towards them.”

Matt Johnson, director of women’s football at Manchester United, added: “We are delighted to have attracted Jess to Manchester United. She brings excellent technical quality, creative ability, a winning mentality and, importantly, she showed a strong desire to join the club and be part of the project we are building here.

“As the transfer window draws to a close, we are very pleased with the investments we have made in Jess, Julia, and Fridolina – all world-class players who know what it takes to compete and win at the highest level.

“They will further strengthen our talented young squad as we look to take the next steps forward in our development, this season and beyond.”

United begin their WSL campaign on Sunday as they host Leicester City, live on Sky Sports.

Sunday 7th September 11:00am


Kick off 12:00pm

Why are Clinton and Park swapping Manchester clubs?

Sky Sports News’ Anton Toloui:

“Grace Clinton has been Manchester City’s biggest target all summer. They wanted to try and get a deal done before the Euros, but it all went quiet. But obviously, towards the end of the window, that box-to-box midfielder that Manchester City have wanted all window, and that being Grace Clinton, they ramped it up again.

“And obviously, Manchester United said ‘well, actually fine, maybe because she’s in the last year of a contract. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of Alessia Russo, Mary Earps, and Ona Batlle in the past. There is a fee that we could do business, but we want Jess Park’.

“Now Park has signed a long-term contract with Manchester United. It’s interesting, because in the women’s game, we’ve seen players move between the Manchester clubs in the past.

“Ella Toone left Manchester City when she was a youngster to go to Manchester United, and you had obviously Alex Greenwood, who’s obviously still at Manchester City. She’s played for all four of the North West clubs.

“So it’s not as controversial, but as the rivalry gets bigger, remember, this is the team that finished third and fourth, that competed potentially for the last Champions League spot this season. They’re doing business. It’s an interesting one, but it’s interesting, I think suits both parties.”

Sky Sports is the home of the WSL – what’s new this season?

As part of Sky’s new bumper rights partnership with the Women’s Super League, Sky Sports will broadcast 118 matches from the WSL every season, up more than three times from the number of games previously shown with 78 fixtures shown exclusively.

Sky Sports will celebrate a landmark WSL season with a new flagship programme dedicated to Sunday lunchtime kick-offs.

The show will offer a 60-minute build-up from 11am, featuring the latest breaking news from every ground, plus more behind-the-scenes content than ever before.

The Sky Sports app also makes it easier than ever to follow the action on mobile with vertical video highlights, match centres packed with scores and stats available for FREE to all fans, plus live streams for Sky Sports customers.

Free-to-watch match highlights from EVERY WSL game will continue to be served up on the Sky Sports website and App.

Beyond that, Sky Sports will serve women’s football fans even better on social with a new dedicated WSL YouTube channel.

It’s the only place to find live streams of selected games, match highlights, exclusive interviews and content showcasing the biggest personalities from across the league as never seen before.