Fara Williams column: Why Alexander Isak saga is unlikely to happen in WSL and why this Lionesses 'superstar' deserves to win Ballon d’Or
Published 04/09/2025 at 12:47 GMT+1
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In her first exclusive column with TNT Sports, Lionesses legend Fara Williams picks her favourite to win the women's Ballon d'Or and reflects on the legacy of the national team after they became European champions for the second time in a row. Williams also explains how the transfer sagas involving Alexander Isak and Yoane Wissa are unlikely to happen in the women's game.
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Former England international Fara Williams will be providing exclusive insight and analysis for TNT Sports for the 2025/26 campaign. Here is her first column, in which she explains why the controversial transfer sagas involving Alexander Isak and Yoane Wissa are not likely to take place in the WSL, as well as her thoughts on which Lionesses star deserves to win the Ballon d'Or this year. Watch the women's and men's FA Cup, Premier League and UEFA Champions League live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Isak, Wissa sagas unlikely to happen in WSL
The women’s game is so different in terms of contracts to the men’s game. It’s quite hard for me to put my feet in the shoes of Alexander Isak and Yoane Wissa when it comes to dealing with their respective transfer sagas.
In the women’s game, you tend to know if or when a player will leave heading into the final year of your contract.
It’s normally a respectful conversation between players, team-mates and managers. You continue to play until that move away happens.
I’ve played with team-mates who have known since January that they will leave the club at the end of the season, and they continued to be professional and gave their all to the club.
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Isak and Wissa were still getting paid even though they weren’t doing their jobs before securing their moves.
The players will also be getting advice from other people because I think it’s out of character for both Isak and Wissa to behave in that way. It’s hard for fans to understand but that’s the way it works.
The women’s game is managed completely differently to the men’s. Chloe Kelly's fallout at Manchester City was a talking point last season, but she wasn't sent to train with the reserves, but that is something we see a lot of in the men’s game.
Isak trained alone during his transfer saga at Newcastle but that doesn’t happen in the women’s game.
The out-of-favour players might not come off the bench but they’ll still be a part of the squad, while in the men’s game, players are outcasts if they’re not part of the manager’s plans. We don’t have that treatment in the women’s game.
'Superstar' Russo deserves to win Ballon d'Or
I think Alessia Russo should be the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or.
I love watching Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas because they’ve been fantastic for Barcelona but ultimately, they both fell short in the Euros and the Champions League.
Russo was part of the Arsenal side to win the Champions League, and she had a huge impact on the Euros in terms of her performances, including her equalising goal in the final.
She deserves to be the favourite to win, but I don’t think she’ll win it as Putellas or Bonmati might come away with the prize.
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She’s such a humble human being and I don’t think success will get to her head. It’s similar to Bonmati, who carries herself really well even after the success of winning the Ballon d’Or back-to-back.
Russo loves football, she’s an honest player, appreciates people around her and understands that her success doesn’t come purely through her own efforts, but respects her team-mates and everything around her to get to the highest level.
People who appreciate football and watch her play know that. She’s such a team player and if she knows she’s played a part in helping her team despite not scoring, she’ll be really happy.
In these last couple of years, she’s proved that she’s a superstar.
WSL must capitalise on Lionesses triumph
It was an incredible achievement for the Lionesses to win the Euros this summer.
To go away and win the competition back-to-back with all the pressure and expectation on their shoulders was incredible. The pressure is different for them compared to the men’s national team.
The pressure for the Lionesses is to perform well in order to keep brands and broadcasters interested in our game.
After retaining their European crown, hopefully, it takes a bit of pressure off of the players and heaps more pressure on the WSL to invest, because that should be the priority in terms of trying to grow the fanbase at club level.
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I think investment is important, but especially at club level. If you saw the hotel where the Lionesses were staying at the Euros, it showed there was investment and backing from the FA to give them the best possible chance of success.
At the club level, I can’t say that every club is doing everything right at the moment because there’s some catching up to do.
It’s very disappointing at club level and I hope that the Euros triumph can inspire more investment to be pumped into the league because that’s where you are going to grow your fanbase.
You can’t wait every couple of years for a major tournament to rely on the Lionesses to grow the fanbase - it’s about what clubs can do in terms of filling out stadiums.
It helps that TNT Sports is showing the women’s FA Cup, and it’s so important that we’re still showing these games.
It’s great that we’ll be able to watch the early stages of the cup, which has never been done before and it shows that the pyramid of the women’s game is so important.
I don’t think there’s anything more that the Lionesses can do. It’s now time for clubs to show their investment and how the game can become more professionalised, because I know that across the WSL, that is not happening.
Arsenal are Chelsea's closest challengers for WSL title
Arsenal have proved in one-off games in the Champions League that they can beat the very best after securing wins over Lyon and Barcelona on their way to becoming European champions.
The Arsenal coaching and playing staff will be having conversations about finding that consistency to compete in the league and if they can achieve that, they’ll be the team to give Chelsea a good run this season.
If I had to pick one team to pip Chelsea to the title, it would be Arsenal. However, Chelsea are still the team to beat after showing the most consistency over the years.
Although they haven’t made many signings, and they’ve released some squad players, Sam Kerr’s return from injury is like Chelsea having a new signing.
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To continue winning the league becomes much harder every year and I think the gap is closing.
Every game against them is a cup final because everyone wants to take points off them, but I believe they have a squad that is as good as any in the league right now, and they’ve got that experience to get over the line.
Manchester City will be an interesting watch with a new manager and players coming back from injury.
Manchester United will be challenging too, so I think it’ll be the same teams competing for those top four places, but it’ll be interesting to see if anyone can break into those positions.
London City could be the ones to break in there because they’re an unknown entity after signing so many players.
Liverpool and Aston Villa will also look to make those top four spots, but in terms of the title, I still see Chelsea as the favourites.
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Stream the women's and men's FA Cup, Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League and more on TNT Sports and discovery+.
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