Albion Women’s latest addition Riya Mannu says she has a “great feeling” about her return to The Hawthorns.
The versatile attacker made her move to the Baggies a permanent one after spending the second half of last season on loan from Birmingham City.
Mannu spent seven years at Blues, and made appearances in WSL2, the division above Albion.
And the 19-year-old believes the ambition to “push” towards the top of the FAWNL Northern Premier was enough to make a move across the Midlands.
She said: “I’m really excited. I had a great feeling about coming back after last season.
“Albion helped me so much in terms of my development last season in senior football, and it helped me get my love back for the game. That was one of the key reasons for coming back. The people here, and the ambitions of the club are great.
“I’ve spoken to both Siobhan Hodgetts-Still and Martyn Irvine, and after those conversations, I felt really positive about my move back here.
“Everyone here has great intentions and wants to help the players as much as they can, the ambitions we’ve got for this season, and the fact we got our decade-best finish last year - we feel like we’re backed to improve upon that.
“I’m looking forward to working with Martyn, his determination and drive to make this squad as good as he can, makes me sure we’ll keep moving in the right direction. We want to dominate with and without the ball, and as a creative player, the style really appeals to me.
“I just want to replicate the feeling of winning we had last season, all of the progress we made was really pleasing. To have the right people around you means the right culture and that’s what the club has here.
“It’s out there for a lot of the teams in this league to try and push for that top part of the table, and we showed last season that we can go toe-to-toe with sides that have quality in this league. This year I’m confident we can do the same again.
“We have the attitude to do that again. It’s just about giving ourselves the best opportunity to do that.
“I’m just so excited to get back out there.”
