As 2021 draws to a close, Telegraph Sport has ranked the Women’s Super League (WSL) 30 best players. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City (perhaps unsurprisingly) dominate the list – but who comes out on top?
30. Alessia Russo (Manchester United)
29. Yui Hasegawa (West Ham)
28. Alex Greenwood (Manchester City)
27. Shelina Zadorsky (Tottenham)
26. Nikita Parris (Arsenal)
25. Mana Iwabuchi (Arsenal)
24. Melanie Leupolz (Chelsea)
23. Guro Reiten (Chelsea)
22. Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal)
21. Tobin Heath (Arsenal)
20. Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea)
A bit of an unsung hero for Chelsea at times. The Scotland midfielder works tirelessly for the team and has slotted in well in her changed role as a wing-back this season. The 23 year-old offers significant versatility to Emma Hayes’ side too, and simply never lets her manager down.
19. Ona Batlle (Manchester United)
The Spanish full-back possesses great awareness, anticipation and timing. Still only 22 years old, Manchester United fans have good reason to be excited about how much more she can improve. The former Barcelona youngster is also exceptionally consistent, typically delivering at least a 7/10 performance every week.
18. Deanne Rose (Reading)
Another of Canada’s Olympic gold-medal winners, Rose’s capture by Reading in July was a major coup for the Berkshire club. Her added star quality helped Kelly Chambers’ side win four of their past five WSL matches, including netting the winner in their shock victory over Chelsea.
17. Lauren Hemp (Manchester City)
With great pace, clever feet and a far greater workrate than you might stereotypically expect from a winger with such flair and trickery, Hemp has a fantastic career ahead of her. Still only 21, she won’t be anywhere near her full potential when next summer’s home Euros come around but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a big breakthrough tournament for this prodigious talent.
16. Ellen White (Manchester City)
England Women’s all-time record goalscorer with 48 senior international goals after surpassing the great Kelly Smith, White’s name is now firmly and deservedly stamped in the history books. She also scored six of Team GB’s seven goals at the Olympics. Her subdued club form is her only downfall at present, having scored just four WSL goals since February, but when it comes to the biggest stages, nobody has been more reliable.
15. Ella Toone (Manchester United)
An exciting talent at just 22, Toone keeps getting better and better for Manchester United and leads the club’s goals and assists charts in the WSL this term. She’s also clearly impressed the new England head coach, Sarina Wiegman, having started all six games since Wiegman took over.
14. Beth Mead (Arsenal)
Surprisingly frozen out of the England squad by interim head coach Hege Riise in February because her “player report hadn’t been that great” and then somewhat harshly left out of the Team GB Olympics squad, Mead has responded superbly and is in the form of her life for Arsenal.
13. Caroline Weir (Manchester City)
There were times early in 2021 when Scotland’s Weir seemed unplayable, particularly when Manchester City were enjoying a 12-game winning run in the WSL. Her nonchalant and quite simply brilliant deft chip in February’s derby against Manchester United has seen her nominated for Fifa’s Puskas award.
12. Jessie Fleming (Chelsea)
In Fleming we have yet another Chelsea player high on this list, but the inescapable fact is that the Blues won every major domestic trophy available in England in 2021. Canada’s Fleming also had a summer to remember at the Olympics, scoring in the final to help her country win a historic first gold, and she keeps on improving month by month.
11. Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea)
Goalkeepers aren’t mentioned enough on these types of lists and, in Germany’s Berger, the WSL is lucky to have possibly the best goalkeeper in the world. It is hard to overstate how much she was missed by Chelsea when she tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in December and was therefore unable to travel to Wolfsburg for the game that saw their Champions League hopes dramatically crushed in her absence.
10. Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea)
An exemplary ambassador for the game, and her club, off the pitch, as well as being a rock at the back for Chelsea on the pitch, Sweden defender Eriksson brings a calmness in defence that few others can conjure.
9. Leah Williamson (Arsenal)
A terrific ball-playing centre-half and an increasing threat in the air at attacking set-pieces too, Williamson has had a year to remember on the pitch and she deservedly wore the captain’s armband for England for the first time during September and October’s international camps.
8. Ji So-yun (Chelsea)
Still criminally under-rated, South Korea magician Ji So-yun remains one of the most skilful midfielders around and she played a major part in helping champions Chelsea win all three major domestic trophies in the calendar year of 2021. Her touch, vision and balance are all a joy to watch.
7. Lucy Bronze (Manchester City)
Having been on top of the world last Christmas after she won the Fifa Best Player award for 2020, this winter has been a stark contrast for Bronze, continuing her rehabilitation from pre-planned knee surgery. But, despite not playing since August, she cannot drop out of this top 10. Manchester City’s defensive struggles in her absence have only reiterated how important she is to them and her expected return in the new year will be a major boost.
6. Katie McCabe (Arsenal)
There aren’t many better left feet in world football than that of Republic of Ireland’s McCabe, who has developed a knack for scoring spectacular long-range goals. She seems to have matured immensely in the past 12 months and, most importantly for Arsenal, her versatility as a winger or a left-back gives them excellent options.
5. Pernille Harder (Chelsea)
Denmark captain Harder’s Chelsea team-mates Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby may be eclipsing her purely in terms of their goal returns, but, make no mistake, Harder is truly world-class and she has more than justified her world-record transfer fee, in excess of £250,000. Her solo effort against Manchester United in September is arguably the best goal of the season so far.
4. Kim Little (Arsenal)
Simply magnificent for Arsenal this season, Little has proven that she remains one of the best midfielders on the planet and she was also one of Team GB’s leading lights in an otherwise largely disappointing Olympic campaign. Few players have ever displayed such guile, or such close control.
3. Fran Kirby (Chelsea)
Deservedly voted the PFA and Football Writers’ player of the year last season, Kirby has been in mesmerising form ever since fighting back from a career-threatening viral illness in the first half of 2020. Now fans around the world – and especially England fans – want to see her shine on the international stage and she has the perfect opportunity to do that on home soil at Women’s Euro 2022.
2. Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
Having now spent two years in the WSL, Australia icon Kerr looks right at home in the English game and her off-the-ball movement sets the standard for strikers across the world. She topped the charts to win last season’s WSL Golden Boot, she’s leading the way again this term with nine goals in as many games, and Chelsea fans will be overjoyed that she has extended her contract until 2024.
1. Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal)
A simply irresistible striker, Holland and Arsenal star Miedema remains the WSL’s all-time record goalscorer and was by far and away the top scorer at this summer’s Olympics, netting 10 times. Trying to convince her to sign a new contract before her deal expires next summer has to be Arsenal’s No 1 priority right now, with the world’s top clubs inevitably interested in signing the 25 year-old.
