Arsenal are expected to be the leading candidate to sign midfielder Georgia Stanway in the summer after the England international confirmed that she will leave Bayern Munich when her contract expires at the end of the season.

As Stanway, 27, is entering the final six months of her current deal with Bayern, from January 1 she can sign a pre-contract agreement with foreign teams. The north London side have shown significant interest and are in a strong position to fend off other suitors although nothing has been signed yet.

Having taken the leap to leave Manchester City and play abroad in 2022, Stanway has made Munich home for the last four seasons. In her 94 appearances for Bayern, she has won three Bundesliga titles. This campaign Bayern are six points clear and unbeaten at the top of the table after 14 games.

A move to Arsenal would see her return to the Women’s Super League (WSL), having left City after seven years. Arsenal are partial to the Lioness tag from a commercial standpoint too and the double European Championship winner would join fellow England internationals Leah Williamson, Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, Alessia Russo Michelle Agyemang, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Taylor Hinds at the club.

“I am incredibly grateful to FC Bayern for the past years,” Stanway wrote on social media. “And thankfully, my time here isn’t over yet. The decision to leave Munich and my team was incredibly difficult and definitely not easy for me.

“I’ve made friends and memories here that will last a lifetime, and I’ve also been able to develop enormously as a player and as a person. I will give everything for the club and its sporting success until my very last day, just as I have for the past three and a half years. And I want to say goodbye to the club and the fans at the end of the season with as many titles as possible.”

Bayern’s director of women’s football Bianca Rech added: “We talked a lot and openly about her (Stanway’s) future, and when she told us that she now wanted to try something new, her reasons were completely understandable. We thank her for the time we spent together and wish her all the best for the future. But we still have a few months left, and we’ll make them as successful as possible together.“

In January last year Stanway sustained her first major career injury rupturing her lateral collateral ligament in her right knee which ended her domestic campaign. She had between 70 to 80 “very, very, tough” rehab sessions and despite it being “a battle” said she felt fitter, faster and stronger than before.

The midfielder recovered in time to start every game for England at the 2025 European Championship and help the team win the tournament for the second time in a row.

Arsenal are third in the WSL table, eight points behind leaders City. Defender Smilla Holmberg from Swedish side Hammarby IF joined in January and there is expected to be a lot of churn among the squad this summer.

Arsenal have several players aged 30 and above with at least six players, including captain Kim Little, Leah Williamson, Caitlin Foord, Katie McCabe, Beth Mead, and Manuela Zinsberger, out of contract. Discussions are said to be progressing well with Little and Williamson while Mariona Caldentey and Kyra Cooney-Cross have had their options triggered, keeping them at the club until 2027.