Eight-time UEFA Champions League winners OL Lyonnes will have even more US flair next season, with the French football titan announcing the signings of USWNT stars Lily Yohannes and Korbin Albert over the last week.
Joining the newly rebranded Lyon side from Dutch club Ajax on a reported €450,000 ($527,000) transfer fee, Yohannes's new contract runs through 2028.
Albert also signed a three-year deal on Friday, solidifying her transfer from Première Ligue rivals PSG — the club that the 21-year-old has played for since her early exit from Notre Dame in 2023.
Yohannes and Albert will join USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps in the OL Lyonnes midfield, with US billionaire and multi-team owner Michele Kang (Washington Spirit, London City Lionesses) overseeing the operation.
Backed by her global women's sports organization Kynisca, Kang reportedly beat WSL giants Chelsea FC to the punch in signing 18-year-old Yohannes on Monday.
OL Lyonnes has been stocking up after failing to make it past the 2024/25 Champions League semifinals, adding PSG striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Chelsea FC fullback Ashley Lawrence, Barcelona defender Ingrid Engen, and Vfl Wolfsburg attacker Jule Brand to a roster now led by former Washington Spirit head coach Jonatan Giráldez.
While international tournaments play out across the world this summer, the club carousel continues to spin as heavyweight teams vie for the sport's top talent.
The first-ever World Sevens Football (W7F) tournament kicked off in Portugal on Wednesday, as eight European powerhouses compete for the 7v7 soccer venture's inaugural trophy — and a share of its $5 million prize pool.
After winning their first matches on Wednesday, French side Paris Saint-Germain, reigning Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich, and WSL clubs Manchester City and Manchester United all tacked on second group-stage wins early Thursday.
Those two-match leads guarantee each club a spot in Friday's knockout rounds — and a shot at the $2.5 million grand prize — regardless of the outcome of their third and final group play games on Thursday.
Notably, Ajax midfielder Lily Yohannes and Man United keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce both feature in this week's tournament, adding extra time with their club teams before they report to USWNT camp next week.
For Yohannes's Netherlands team, the W7F road will end in group play, with fellow two-loss clubs AS Roma (Italy), FC Rosengård (Sweden), and Benfica (Portugal) facing the same fate.
With another competition in the works for North America this fall, this week’s tournament is setting the bar for what players, teams, and fans can expect from W7F moving forward.
How to watch the inaugural W7F tournament
After the group stage wraps on Thursday, the first-ever W7F semifinal slate will begin at 10 AM ET on Friday, followed by the championship match at 3 PM ET.
All W7F matches will stream live on DAZN.
World Sevens Football (W7F) confirmed the first four clubs competing in its inaugural tournament on Thursday, with Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Ajax, and Benfica joining the upstart's first competition this May.
Fashioned after tennis' Grand Slams, W7F is a series of tournaments, bringing together top clubs in major cities worldwide.
The debut three-day tournament will take place in the immediate lead-up to the May 24th 2025 UEFA Women's Champions League final, allowing the W7F launch to strategically capitalize on the excitement surrounding one of the sport's annual tentpole events.
World Sevens eyes multi-continent tournament lineup
W7F is the sport's latest 7v7 venture, with the US-based The Soccer Tournament spearheading the rise of the abbreviated game with its annual $1 million competition.
Like all future W7F contests, May's inaugural tournament will include a total of eight 7v7 clubs. Additionally, teams will compete in matches with two 15-minute halves, all on a field half the size of a full-team regulation soccer pitch.
In each W7F tournament, teams will vie for a share of a $5 million prize pool, with $2.5 million going to the champion while the runner-up banks $1 million.
As for the other four clubs joining the just-announced quartet in May, W7F is still negotiating with various teams, with the possibility of participation from non-European clubs still on the table.
A North American tournament is in the works for this fall, and W7F is also currently mapping out a four-year run-up to create five annual competitions across different continents.