Manchester United have confirmed captain Katie Zelem will depart the club when her contract expires at the end of June.
The 28-year-old progressed through the United academy and re-joined the club upon the reformation of the women’s team in 2018 following spells at Liverpool and Juventus.
She becomes the latest player to depart United this summer after Spain winger Lucia Garcia’s exit was confirmed on Wednesday.
Mary Earps is also out of contract and The Athletic reported on Tuesday that United expect her to leave, with the England goalkeeper considering an attractive offer from Paris Saint-Germain. Forward Nikita Parris’ contract is also set to expire at the end of the month.
Zelem joined United’s academy at the age of eight, but without a senior women’s team to progress into she departed for Liverpool in 2013, before moving to Juventus.
She re-signed for United in 2018 ahead of the club’s debut season as a professional outfit, helping the side win promotion to the Women’s Super League.
Zelem was named United captain ahead of the club’s first season in the WSL following the departure of Alex Greenwood.
She made 161 appearances during her six seasons with United, scoring 32 goals.
The midfielder helped United qualify for the Champions League for the first time during the 2022-23 campaign, and was part of the side that won the FA Cup with victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley last season.
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The uncertainty over key players in the women’s side comes after comments made by United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in an interview with Bloomberg last week.
Asked whether United would consider looking for external investment into the women’s side as Chelsea have, Ratcliffe replied: “We haven’t got into that level of detail with the women’s team yet.
“We’ve been pretty much focused on how we resolve the first-team issues in that environment and that’s been pretty full-time for the first six months.”
The Athletic reported Manchester United men’s team are set to use the women’s first-team building amid the renovations being carried out at Carrington during the 2024-25 season, in a move that will see the women’s side asked to use portable cabins when schedules cross over.
It is set to be a second successive summer of turnover at United, after key players Alessia Russo and Ona Batlle also exited the club following the expiration of their contracts last year, joining Arsenal and Barcelona respectively.
United finished fifth in the WSL last season, their lowest finish in the top flight since their promotion in 2019.
They won the FA Cup, securing their first major trophy, with Zelem leading the team out at Wembley.
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