Manchester City Sign Carlotta Wamser to Strengthen Defense

Manchester City have moved to reinforce both flanks of their back line, completing the signing of German full-back Carlotta Wamser from Bayer Leverkusen on a four-year deal.

The 22-year-old arrives as a ready-made solution and a long-term project all at once. Comfortable on either side of defence, Wamser gives the WSL champions exactly what they need: energy, versatility and depth at a time when the squad is creaking.

She becomes City’s third major arrival of the summer, following defender Niamh Charles from Chelsea and forward Beth Mead from Arsenal. On paper, it looks like a statement window. In reality, it also looks like necessity.

Cover for a bruised champions’ squad

City open their title defence at home to Birmingham City on Sunday, but they do so with a growing injury list. Charles is among the absentees, joined by Grace Clinton, Vivianne Miedema, Jade Rose and Laura Wienroither. That is a serious chunk of quality missing from every line of the pitch.

Wamser’s signing lands as a direct response. A full-back who can switch from left to right without fuss is gold dust in a season that will stretch squads to their limits.

She only joined Leverkusen in July 2025, arriving on a free from Eintracht Frankfurt, and her rise has been steady rather than explosive. Yet it has been relentless. Wamser has already collected 14 senior caps for Germany after coming through every rung of the national youth ladder, including lifting the Under-17 European Championship in 2019.

That background matters. City are not just gambling on potential; they are betting on a player who has already handled tournament pressure and the expectations that come with a major footballing nation.

“The perfect step”

Wamser’s first words as a City player carried the conviction of someone who knows exactly what she is walking into.

“I had a perfect welcome here and I already feel very good here and I look forward to my time here in Manchester,” she said, outlining both comfort and ambition in one breath.

She did not hide the scale of her target.

“The English league is the best league in the world and Manchester City is one of the best clubs in the world.

“I feel like I need the next step for my career and I feel that I can develop as a player here. And I like the challenge as well, so I think it’s the perfect step for me right now.”

For City, that blend of hunger and readiness is exactly what they have tried to bottle over the past few seasons: young players arriving not just to fill shirts, but to grow with a side that expects to compete on every front.

A message from the top

Director of football Therese Sjogran framed the deal as part of a wider project rather than a one-off move to patch up a bruised defence.

“We are delighted to welcome Carlotta to the club,” she said. “She is a player we’ve admired for some time and know she will bring energy, passion and a willingness to learn to the team.

“For such a young, exciting talent to trust us with the next step of her career is something we feel conveys a strong message of what we are building here.”

That “message” is clear enough. City want to stay at the top of the English game, but they also want to do it with players who see Manchester as a place to develop, not just a stepping stone.

On Sunday, as the champions walk out to begin another title defence, the focus will fall on familiar stars and returning heroes. Yet somewhere down that touchline, a 22-year-old full-back from Germany will be preparing for her first glimpse of life in sky blue.

How quickly Carlotta Wamser turns opportunity into influence may say plenty about where City’s era of dominance goes next.