Lauren Hemp: England and Manchester City star set to join FC Barcelona

Lauren Hemp, the England and Manchester City star forward, could be up for a move across the continent this summer with recent reports suggesting she is ready to join FC Barcelona. The 23-year-old's current contract with the Citizens runs out in the summer and while the Sky Blues had been hopeful Hemp would extend her stay, it now appears that she is ready to join fellow ex-Manchester City stars Lucy Bronze and Kiera Walsh.

Taking to Twitter, DAZN posted: "Lauren Hemp is close to agreeing to join FC Barcelona. The winger is currently contracted to Manchester City FC until this summer. City hoped the England international would renew, but currently it looks likely that she will instead join the Spanish and European Champions." Their post also included that more information was set to follow.

At 23 years of age, Hemp already has over 100 appearances for Manchester City, including 93 WSL appearances and has been handed 51 international camps. She has 16 goals for the Lionesses and was fundamental in the squad winning the Euros in 2022 as well as reaching the Fifa World Cup final in 2023. Hemp has been named the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year on four occasions and featured twice in the PFA WSL Team of the Year (2020/21 and 2021/22).

In her 24 appearances across all competitions this 2023/24 season, Hemp already has ten goals and six assists but moving to Barcelona would give her the opportunity of lifting more silverware before too long. Barcelona currently sit first in the Primera Division and are nine points clear of their nearest rivals, Real Madrid. Manchester City, on the other hand, would be dealt a huge blow if they lost ye another star figure to Barcelona as they are battling to topple Chelsea's chances of winning yet another WSL title. Additionally, losing Hemp on a free contract could be detrimental to Gareth Taylor's side as the England Lioness star is estimated to have a market value of £290,000.

The Citizens are enjoying a tremendous run of form which sees them in second place behind Emma Hayes's squad and are on 31 points from their 13 fixtures - three points ahead of Arsenal and three points behind league leaders Chelsea.