Birmingham City didn’t mess around this window. They went straight to Manchester United and pulled two players out of the squad in one day.
The Blues officially announced the signings of defender Maya Turner and midfielder Vilde Naalsund on Wednesday. Both deals involve undisclosed transfer fees, which is standard practice for WSL moves these days. The club confirmed the news via press releases earlier today.
Turner is the bigger name here. She spent eight years at United, making 133 appearances across all competitions and scoring nine goals. She won the WSL2 title with them back in the day and lifted the Adobe Women’s FA Cup trophy. At 29, she’s in her prime and brings a ton of experience to a Birmingham side that’s trying to establish itself in the top flight.
What Turner and Naalsund Bring
Naalsund has been at United for three and a half years. She made 74 appearances and scored eight times, also winning the FA Cup. She’s a midfielder who can control tempo and pick out passes. At 26, she’s got plenty of good years ahead.
Both players said the project at Birmingham sold them. Turner put it bluntly: This is where I want to be. The way that the girls fight for each other and play for each other, it’s something that I really want to be part of. It’s an exciting project and I think there’s no ceiling to what we can achieve here.
Naalsund was just as direct. When I had the chats with the club, they just gave me instantly a very good feeling about it,
she said. When you’re debating which club to go to, it’s always that feeling in your stomach, and that just decides where you go. This was the place that just excited me the most and the people were really nice. I think it’s a really good project here, coming up to the WSL, and I feel like the future here can be quite bright. I’m just very excited to be a part of it.
Notice they both used the word project
independently. That tells you something about how Birmingham is pitching itself to players right now. They’re not selling instant trophies. They’re selling growth and building something from the ground up.
The Bigger Picture
Birmingham City earned promotion back to the WSL last season, and they’re not messing around. Pulling two established players from a top-four club like United sends a message to the rest of the league. They’re not just making up numbers this year.
Manchester United fans might be scratching their heads about losing both players in one window. But United’s squad is deep, and sometimes players want regular minutes more than they want a bench spot at a big club. Birmingham can offer that.
The Blues aren’t done yet either. The club said further squad announcements will come. Which means this is just the opening move.
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