Man City announce arrival of England youth goalkeeper Eve Annets | OneFootball

Goalkeeper Eve Annets has signed a four-year deal with Manchester City, ending a turbulent period with Reading FC following their exit from the Championship.

Reading confirmed they would be withdrawing from the Championship at the end of June due to financial struggles. They are set to play in the fifth tier during the 2024/25 campaign.

After a challenging few months, 18-year-old Annets has described her move to the Cityzens as 'incredible'. Annets joins the club after making her England Under-19s debut earlier this year, with her first senior appearance against Tottenham Hotspur in the Continental Cup.

Speaking about what she hopes to achieve during her time in Manchester, Annets said: "I think for me individually, I want to be getting to the elite level and will push myself as high as I can towards the best players at this club.

"I want to be fitter, stronger, faster, making better saves against faster paced shots, things like that, and just developing a mindset of someone who is going for a WSL title and to be part of that team would be really good."

Khiara Keating is City's starting goalkeeper / Visionhaus/GettyImages

The move will see Annets become City’s third goalkeeper behind Khiara Keating and Sandy MacIver. Her arrival also marks the club’s fourth signing of the summer transfer window, after already announcing the acquisitions of Vivianne Miedema, Risa Shimizu and Aoba Fujino.

Annets will be teaming up with her England youth teammate Poppy Pritchard when she arrives at City. When asked whether she’s been able to speak to Pritchard about the club, Annets said: "She does not stop talking about City, but it’s a good thing. And it’s nice to come here and have a warm welcome face.

"We met at England in September on the first camp together, so our friendship's just constantly laughing and pushing each other on the field as well."

City will be entering the upcoming season with their sights set on the WSL title, after narrowly missing out on being crowned 2023/24 champions to Chelsea, who beat them purely on goal difference.