Thursday 19 June 2025 17:00
Manchester United Women can confirm the departures of Aoife Mannion and Alyssa Aherne following the expiry of their contracts.
Mannion has represented United 55 times since her arrival from Manchester City in the summer of 2021 and is a fully fledged Republic of Ireland international.
Aoife helped keep a clean sheet on her Reds debut, on the opening night of the 2021/22 WSL campaign, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 win over Reading at Leigh Sports Village. She would then unfortunately suffer a season-ending knee injury midway through the campaign, which would cut short her first term at United.
Mannion battled back her way back, however, showing true spirit and resilience, and would make her return to action for the Reds as a second-half substitute in United’s FA Cup fifth-round win over Durham in February 2023.
Aoife was part of our 2024 Adobe Women’s FA Cup winning squad.
Earlier that month, she also confirmed the switch of international allegiance to the Republic of Ireland – the country both of her parents were born in – and debuted for The Girls in Green during a friendly against China.
After signing a new deal in 2023, Mannion went on to make a number of important appearances during the 2023/24 campaign, none more so than for the final 12 minutes at Wembley Stadium, as Marc Skinner’s side won the FA Cup by beating Spurs.
Aherne, a graduate of the women’s Academy, signed her first professional contract at the club in May 2023. After joining United aged 13, the forward was a standout performer for our women’s Academy teams.
She was also part of our Under-21 WSL Academy League and Cup-winning side in 2022, and was the 21st graduate to sign for the women’s team following it’s reform back in 2018.
Aherne was sent out on loan for the 2023/24 campaign with fellow Women’s Super League side Everton to help develop her game with regular minutes.
Alyssa won the league and cup double with our Under-21s in 2023/24.
After ending the loan spell early, Aherne spent the rest of the season developing with Marc Skinner’s first-team squad, before joining Championship side Sheffield United in January.
She scored for the Blades on her debut against Crystal Palace that very same month and in total made seven appearances for the Blades last season. The 21-year-old has also made several showings for England at various youth levels across her career thus far.
Everybody at United thanks Aoife and Alyssa for their contributions during their time at the club, and wishes them the best of luck for the future.
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Thursday 19 June 2025 17:00
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