Aiming for the top - Kang's dramatic impact on WSL

Michele Kang's arrival at London City Lionesses' training ground in Kent is a regular occurrence, yet still a big event.

Manager Jocelyn Precheur, hired by the wealthy American businesswoman in 2024, runs across from the other side of the training pitch to give her a hug despite the owner's insistence not to bother, keen to avoid disrupting the session.

Kang has made waves in women's football, building success at US-based Washington Spirit and French giants Lyon, before overseeing London City Lionesses' rise to the Women's Super League.

She is unique and ever-present, attending all three of her clubs' matches regularly and playing a hands-on role in day-to-day operations.

London City Lionesses were active in the summer transfer window, attracting big-name stars from Europe's most prestigious clubs - and Kang was heavily involved.

"You will have to ask our guys what they think..." jokes the 66-year-old, when asked how much she gets involved on a daily basis since her arrival in 2023.

"My philosophy in the business world is that my job is to set the vision and create the environment where all elements - in this case players and staff - can really succeed.

"I go out and hire the best people. No one person can know everything and certainly, I'm not a soccer expert. If I'm the smartest person in the room, I have failed miserably.

"I'm very involved in terms of wanting to know. For example, if there's anything I can do to help convince a player to come and join our club, I will."

Kang is a slight figure but when she walks into the canteen room in heels at Cobdown Park for the exclusive interview with BBC Sport, her presence can't be ignored.

She shakes hands with everyone, introducing herself warmly before taking her seat, careful not to ruin her glamorous dress.

It is clear Kang is a highly-intelligent woman from early conversations. She has humour, compassion and a lot of knowledge in what she talks about.

Her multi-club ownership model has become a topic of conversation as women's football continues to grow and explores new ways to seek revenue.

She has invested heavily in London City Lionesses' infrastructure, playing staff and female-specific research and it has paid off so far.

Will it become a model that others follow?

"I don't know if they say 'we will follow this model' but I think if you come into women's football and have real, genuine interests of supporting women's football, it's a no-brainer conclusion," says Kang.

"We don't have the huge media deal that the men have. We don't sell-out stadiums yet. We don't have hundreds and millions of dollars of corporate sponsorships. But we still want to advance women's football by investing in it.

"So what's the natural conclusion? You have to build a scale. There is no reason why every team should invest in female research. We should pool that research together and share it. It's the same with global scouting.

"I know it has bad connotations on the men's side with greed and all those things, but in women's football it's a necessity until we have decent commercial resources available."

Kang glows with pride at the work being done behind her, turning to point at the training ground's construction work to improve facilities.

She has used the Premier League as a benchmark on the standards required for success and has designed, with architects, a plan she wants to replicate across all her clubs to provide the best environment.

Kang returns to this when asked if it is upsetting that some suggest she signs players from her other clubs in a way of manipulating the market.

Does she sign players from Paris St-Germain, Lyon's rivals, to benefit her French club? It is one of the main criticisms of multi-club ownership - a model which is not universally liked.

"I understand it because they haven't seen this yet so it's only natural for people to assume that because in the men's world, [it is perceived that] teams buy players so they can sell them for a much higher price," adds Kang.

"In the absence of any other alternative, it's not unreasonable to think, 'oh, that is what she is doing'. I get that. My job is to ensure I don't do that so they can appreciate they are not the same models.

"It is not about building a feeder system - that is not the purpose. It is to bring critical scale so we can invest in all the necessary infrastructure and research how our players need to be the best athletes. So we can put out the best product, so we can bring more people into the stadiums, and the media finds women's sport attractive.

"It's all related and all necessary. While we're talking about comparisons... women's football is very different to men's football. We should really treat this differently."

It is clear Kang knows her business very well.

She reels off statistics from memory that back up her argument that you do not need a club affiliated with a men's team to grow the fanbase.

London City Lionesses are the only independent club without a partner men's team in the WSL and they are expected to have just under 2,000 fans at their first home game at Hayes Lane on Sunday when they welcome Manchester United (12:00 BST).

"We're competing against all forums of entertainment," adds Kang.

"All of us only have seven evenings a week. You can go to a concert, see a movie or have dinner with friends. Why should you come to watch our game 11, 12 or 13 times a year?"

But the long-term plan is to increase the capacity, opening up further stands.

"When I first bought an independent team a lot of people were actually concerned for me. They were saying, 'what is she doing? she is going to fail'," says Kang.

"But fan leveragability is a myth. It's less than 10% [that come from the men's fanbase to the women's].

"In whatever team I buy, the first focus for me is the product. If you don't have a compelling product, it doesn't matter how much marketing you do, fans will be easily disappointed. We can't not keep our promises.

"Women's football is not just the 90-minute game, it is what happens before, during the game, the 15-minute break and then after the game.

"We cannot be a mainstream product until we can appeal to the majority of the population. Women's football is not a charity."

London City Lionesses made 16 permanent signings in the summer transfer window and their final one, France international Grace Geyoro from PSG, caused a stir on deadline day as it was initially reported she had joined for a world-record fee.

However, the club disputed the initial reports of a £1.4m signing and Kang tells BBC Sport she has never paid more than 1m euros (£864,000) for a player at any of her three clubs.

"In the future, there will be a lot of world records and I want the records to be broken," she adds.

"I'm all for growing but the reason why we couldn't come out and say the fee is because all of those contracts are confidential.

"What I would say is I was very disappointed that inaccurate information was floating around. It wasn't by a small margin, it was a very wide margin.

"The highest amount we have ever paid, across all three teams, is 1m euros."

Kang smiles as she brings up club captain Kosovare Asllani and eyes in the room flicker to a picture of the Sweden striker holding the WSL 2 trophy aloft last season.

The 36-year-old joined from AC Milan in 2024, the first of a series of high-profile recruits who gave up Champions League football to commit to London City.

"For her to leave that and join a team with an uncertain future in the second division, that took a lot of guts. I'm so grateful," admits Kang.

"I hope that in the future, what's driving some of the players to join, is that it's still relatively unique to see investment in women's football.

"Not just buying teams, but investing in infrastructure. You can count those cases on one hand, maybe two hands. I think that's rare."

As well as putting money into what she hopes will become a "world-class, female-specific training facility", Kang is prepared to pay her players a decent wage.

Minimum salaries are being introduced in the WSL for the first time this season and while Kang would not reveal figures, she believes her players deserve recognition.

"I can only guess how much [WSL champions] Chelsea are spending as I watch who they recruit and so forth and I'm not sure I am up there yet," she adds.

"But certainly, we are bringing in top players. We're doing our best to make sure we pay a fair salary for what they are worth in a market that's growing rapidly.

"We're going to have some constraints in the future as a league and there is some notion of a salary cap being implemented."

"Can I say we want to win the WSL championship? No! I'm just kidding."

Kang's long-term ambitions are to bring success to London City Lionesses, but knows it will take time and they are aiming for a top-half finish this year - even if she enjoys the unlikely image of her side winning the title at the first attempt.

Frenchman Precheur was given a harsh welcome to life in the WSL with a 4-1 defeat by European champions Arsenal at the Emirates on the opening weekend.

But London City took the lead through Asllani and showed glimpses of their ability to compete.

"Everyone has the excitement and the intent, but we're not taking this as a one-year project. We want to build the right foundations," says Kang.

"We certainly want to be at a minimum in the mid-tier to top-tier. We have an aspiration to be at the top of the game.

"Nothing will stop us from working hard to close that gap and go as far as we can go. Hopefully you will all watch us."

But Kang's personal ambition goes beyond success on the pitch as she wants to "enable all young girls to reach their dreams".

"You have to put the best effort into what you want to be, but it will not be the environment or the system that will prohibit you from reaching your dream," adds Kang as she outlines her "ultimate vision".

"Women's football is probably the best-kept secret. It is the most fun and incredible product with the highest level of athleticism and yet, it's very under-appreciated.

"The difference and the gap between where it was, compared to where it could be, is huge. I have not seen that in my entire 40 years in business.

"I'm very excited about the possibility for all of us. Not just at London City Lionesses, Washington Spirit or Lyon, but for all of us in women's football."