Kerolin’s Transfer from Manchester City to Barcelona: A Controversial Exit

Kerolin’s move from Manchester City to Barcelona should have been a landmark moment wrapped in warm farewells and glowing tributes. Instead, it has left a chill in the air at the Women’s Super League champions.

The Brazil forward failed to report for pre-season training with City in late July, staying away while her transfer to the European champions was still being thrashed out. By the time Barcelona finally announced the signing of the 26-year-old on Tuesday, City had yet to say a public word. As of Thursday afternoon, there was still no acknowledgement of the deal from Manchester City, no thank-you message, no farewell post.

Inside the club, that silence has been matched by a sense of disappointment. Several members of staff and players were left unhappy at what they saw as an attempt by Kerolin to force the move, and at how abruptly her time in Manchester ended. This was a player widely regarded as popular in the dressing room, someone thought to be on good terms with the squad. Then pre-season began, fitness testing started, and she simply did not walk through the door.

The numbers underline how significant this transfer is. The deal is worth an initial €1.2m (£1m), the largest fee ever received by a WSL club. With add-ons it could climb towards £1.25m, which would place it among the biggest transfers in the history of the women’s game. For City, it is a record cash injection. For Barcelona, it is a statement of intent.

For her now former teammates, though, the manner of her exit has overshadowed the size of the fee. Kerolin played a central role in the City side that finally reclaimed the WSL title last season, ending a decade-long wait, and also helped secure the Women’s FA Cup. Within weeks of those celebrations, players who had shared that success with her were left stunned. She did not return for pre-season and, crucially, did not say goodbye in person.

Kerolin’s representatives have been contacted for comment, but the sense within City is clear enough. The club had no issue with the transfer itself. A move to the reigning European champions is, for many, the pinnacle of a club career. City understood the appeal of Barcelona, who beat OL Lyonnais in last season’s Women’s Champions League final and sit at the top of the European game. What jarred was the way it unfolded: the no-show for pre-season, the absence from fitness testing, the abrupt cut-off from a group that had just climbed to the summit of English football together.

Such stand-offs are familiar in men’s football, where transfer sagas, training-ground absences and strategic no-shows have become part of the summer script. In the women’s game, they are still rare. That contrast is part of why this episode has resonated so strongly inside the City camp. It felt like a line being crossed, a sign that the pressures and power plays of the men’s market are now seeping more deeply into the women’s side.

For Kerolin, the calculation is obvious. This is the move of a lifetime: to Barcelona, to a team that dominates Spain, conquers Europe and offers a platform on the very biggest stage. For City, there is the consolation of a record fee and the knowledge that they remain an elite destination in their own right.

Any lingering tension will not be confined to private conversations for long. City and Barcelona are due to meet at the Joie Stadium on 15 August in a pre-season friendly, the champions of England and Spain sharpening up for the new campaign.

If Kerolin is on the pitch that night, the reunion will not need any extra subplots.