Aston Villa sign Ellie Roebuck following Barcelona departure | OneFootball

Aston Villa sign former Manchester City and Barcelona goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck

Aston Villa women have confirmed the signing of former Barcelona goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck, who makes her return to the WSL after spending a year in Spain.

Ellie Roebuck was a loyal servant to Manchester City in the WSL, spending seven seasons at the club before moving on to Barcelona last year.

Following her seven years with City, Roebuck suffered from what could have been a career ending incident in 2023 with the goalkeeper having a minor stroke.

Speaking after her stroke, the 25-year-old admitted that she could have gone blind: “I’m lucky because I should have lost my vision. I should have lost my peripheral vision for sure.

“The majority of people that suffer a stroke [like mine] do that. So, I probably should have been blind, which is quite a miracle that that didn’t happen.”

Thankfully, Roebuck was able to make her return to football after a year on the sidelines and when she returned the City number one looked for a new start with Barcelona.

On her return to football Roebuck proved that she still had the ability to star on the biggest stage and despite only playing two league games, she was still crowned a champion of La Liga F.

The goalkeeper won the Women’s Super League once, and the FA Cup and League Cup three times each with City. With Barcelona, Roebuck won the league and cup double in her one year at the club.

A fresh start for Ellie Roebuck at Aston Villa

After playing only two games in her year abroad, Ellie Roebuck has made an immediate return to the WSL as she looks to revive her career with Aston Villa.

On the club’s website, Aston Villa Director of Women’s football, Marisa Ewers said: “We are delighted that Ellie will be joining our club.

“She is an exciting addition to the team and is a player with a lot of experience who can help drive our performance levels.”

Roebuck isn’t the first player through the door for Villa this summer, with the club also confirming the signing of Netherlands defender Lynn Wilms from VfL Wolfsburg.

There is still a lot of questions surrounding how the side will be run next season after it was announced that the club would be selling the women’s team after breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

It is still thought that day-to-day activities will stay the same for the team, with new investment opportunities likely before the start of the 2025/26 campaign.