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It has been a bad week for Michele Kang, the billionaire women’s football investor. On Wednesday the Uefa director of women’s football, Nadine Kessler, was firm on the enforcement of rules prohibiting clubs with the same owner from playing each other in European competitions, dealing a blow to Kang, who has ambitions of taking London City Lionesses into Europe’s premier competition, but also owns the tournament’s most decorated side, OL Lyonnes.

Then, across the weekend, Kang teams suffered two continental final defeats, with Lyonnes losing 4-0 to Barcelona in the Champions League final before her US outfit, Washington Spirit, fell short in the Concacaf W Champions Cup with a 5-3 reverse to Mexican side Club América.

Speaking to Catalan TV channel Esport3 in Oslo on Saturday evening, Barcelona goalkeeper Cata Coll made some pointed remarks about money in football after their emphatic victory, and her words went viral. “There has been criticism but we have shown the team we are,” she said. “Money isn’t everything. We are privileged to have La Masia and all the girls that have come up to the first team: Aïcha Cámara, Carla [Julià Martínez], [Martine] Fenger, [Clara] Serrajordi, all of them. They are incredible. It says everything and that’s why I say it.”

Many have assumed it was a jab at Kang and the use of her wealth to pursue glory in women’s football, with Barcelona’s talent pipeline apparently delivering an antidote to such an approach. There have been frustrations that Kang’s teams have been sniffing at Barcelona’s door in recent years, poaching head coach Jonatan Giráldez, who led Barça to their second and third European titles, first planting him in post at Washington Spirit before switching him this season to Lyonnes, another of her Kynisca Sports International multi-club ownership group.

Giráldez isn’t the only Barcelona employee to have been recruited by the big-spending Kang. Midfielder Ingrid Engen joined Lyonnes last summer and defender Jana Fernández was acquired by London City from the Catalan club. Meanwhile, talk of potential rogue bids for Aitana Bonmatí have circulated in past seasons, while London City are believed to have made Alèxia Putellas, soon to be out-of-contract, a large offer to play in the WSL.

However, while the constantly emerging talent from La Masia is both laudable and enviable, Barcelona is not a model women’s football club, or a salve to the model being championed by Kang.

Kang is one of many to have exploited the strict financial rules of La Liga, with the money trouble experienced by the men’s side recently affecting every section of the club, from the women’s team to the youth academy and basketball, handball and futsal teams. To lower the wage bill, players have been allowed to leave that may have been kept under different circumstances.

The team that has powered Barça to four European titles contains several key players at the end of their contracts. Alongside Putellas, the quartet of Mapi León, Marta Torrejón, Salma Paralluelo and Caroline Graham Hansen are nearing the end of their deals. At some stage Barça will need to undergo their next evolution, but to what extent that is done on their terms, or forced by financial pressure, remains to be seen.

Saturday’s Champions League final was my eighth in nine years – the Covid-19 pandemic prevented me from attending the 2020 final between Lyon (now Lyonnes) and Wolfsburg in San Sebastián. The game has come a long way since my first, in Kyiv in 2018, when the host city was the same as the one for the men’s Champions League final and the women’s final cowered in its shadow.

In Oslo the huge numbers pouring into Uefa’s fan park, that featured a line of mini-pitches where girls’ teams played all day, reflected the impact the final can now have on a city.

Women’s football has also changed a lot, but in some ways it is very similar. In 2018 Lyon lifted their fifth of what has become eight European titles, the efforts of former club owner, men’s and women’s, Jean-Michel Aulas, repeatedly delivering for the French team. Aulas committed more resources to the women’s team than most other European clubs and Kang is now doing the same sort of thing, but more aggressively, in a world where many of the top women’s clubs are increasing investment.

Clubs are seemingly irritated with Kang’s spending because to entice superstars to fledgling projects she is offering fees and wages that are distorting the market, driving it beyond what many view as sustainable growth.

Except, given the opportunity, every club would probably do it. Yes, huge men’s clubs could do the same, given the large sums at their disposal, but often choose not to in the name of sustainability and gradual growth. That feels like an excuse for underinvestment when most clubs do not take as cautious an approach with their men’s teams, with most operating at a loss.

The problem is, there is no alternative model put forward by any of the biggest clubs. Each one walks the same path, in slightly different ways, perhaps getting annoyed at how others have gone the same route. Most men’s Premier League clubs do not want an alternative funding model – because it might show fans there is another way of doing things. As it stands, those owners can take money out of clubs to boost their personal wealth.

So, yes, Coll is right, but behaving like Barcelona are the morally superior club is misleading.

Talking points

Going places: Charlton are the third WSL2 side promoted into the WSL after a thrilling penalty-shootout win over Leicester, who finished bottom of the WSL. After 120 minutes lacking in quality, Charlton’s goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse was the hero, stopping four penalties in the shootout. The expansion of the WSL from 12 to 14 teams for next season meant a rare opportunity for three teams, with Birmingham and Crystal Palace finishing first and second after Charlton had topped the table for much of the season. Charlton won the FA Cup in 2005, and the League Cup in 2004 and 2006, and have a rich history in the women’s game.

History written: Hearts earned a first Scottish Women’s Premier League title despite a 2-0 loss to Hibernian on the final day of the season. A win or draw would have been enough to secure the title but Rangers’ thumping 6-0 loss to Glasgow City made the result at Meadowbank irrelevant. In five years under Eva Olid, Hearts have been transformed from a team that had just finished bottom of the table, avoiding relegation due to the league expanding, into contenders and then champions.

New destination: Germany forward Shekiera Martinez has swapped east London for north London, making the move from struggling West Ham to Tottenham. The 24-year-old has impressed with the Hammers, scoring six WSL goals this season as West Ham finished 10th, above Liverpool and Leicester. The Tottenham manager, Martin Ho, said: “She is a forward with real presence, intelligent movement and a strong instinct in the box. Shekiera has the talent, the ambition and the mentality to become an important player for Spurs.”

Quote of the day

This is my sixth Champions League final, and after losing five finals, it was difficult, but I never gave up, and I always give my best for the team. Today I am very happy and proud to be a Barcelona player, to play with this great team, and I’m just so grateful for this” – Barcelona forward Ewa Pajor celebrates her first European title after four Champions League final losses with Wolfsburg and Barcelona’s 2024-25 defeat by Arsenal.

Recommended viewing

Watch Whitehouse save those four penalties and earn Charlton promotion to the WSL.

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