The Halfway Line caught up with London City Lionesses captain Kosovre Asllani, after her side’s 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle United yesterday afternoon, to talk all things ‘new impressions’ heading into the new campaign.

As the media checked in about how she was feeling after getting subbed off with what looked to be a minor knock as the game went into injury time, Asllani laughed and said “[I am] getting used to this league, that’s enough said“.

The Swedish International, who only signed for the Lionesses this summer, fired home the equaliser for her side ensuring that the team took a point on the opening day of the Championship. When asked about opening her account with London City, she smiled, saying “it felt great, obviously I want to win, that’s the most important thing, but it was great to score my first goal”.

Leading her new team out on their debut at their new home in BR2, Asllani said “it feels natural for me, I’ve been in a similar project in Real Madrid, I know what responsibility it will take from me, not just on the pitch. It’s huge outside of the pitch too, making the team come together and creating this professional level” .

When asked about her new teammates, Asllani was complimentary but recognised the patience needed when creating a new team, saying “we have a lot of quality in this team, but a lot of players just came, it takes time to adapt and create the culture we want to have in this team”.

Isobel Goodwin, who only signed for the club on Saturday, and hence had only undertaken a single training session with her new team prior to debuting as a substitute in Sunday’s game. Goodwin’s new captain in Asllani was “positively surprised to see her quality” elaborating that “she [Goodwin] has future potential and I think she will help us a lot”.

When asked what she made of how competitive the league is, Asllani was full of praise for the intensity of English football, saying “I think the WSL is probably the best league in the world at the moment and the Championship has a similar style of play [to the WSL]“. When pushed to expand on her reasoning she said “you don’t get a lot of time with the ball but it’s all about being smart and moving the ball, and the team that can move the ball fastest and be the most tactically smart is the one who will win the game“.

Following the stalemate with Newcastle United, Asllani packed on the praise for Sunday’s opponent when saying “We played against a tough opponent today, an ambitious team, who also wanted to win the game”.

Though Asllani was quick to remind us once again that “we [London City] have been together one, maybe two, months. Imagine when we have played together even longer, get to know each other even more, and continue on the game plan that the coach has. I feel we made a good start, so, now we just want to continue building”.

Asllani constantly reiterated the intentions of London City to ‘continue building something great’ and it was evident in how highly she spoke of the project the club is undertaking.

She said “we have something special going on with this team, I feel like a lot of people want to follow us now on our journey and I think it’s exciting – the whole project, and what we want to build”.

The Swedish International is no stranger to embarking on a new project, but this one is different. It’s centred around investment, and more specifically the invesment from a woman – Michele Kang – someone who wants the women’s game to prove it can thrive as a business for the better of female athletes. Asllani said “I think that the coolest part is that it’s a woman investing, everyone that follows my journey knows my values, so I wanted to be part of the project due to that, and help her achieve this dream so that we will succeed”.

The 35-year old forward showed her admiration for Kang, saying ” she [Kang] believes in the project with her whole heart, as much as we believe in it too, it’s something special due to the fact we won’t have to demand things in the future, she understands what we need and will give us everything to create a successful team”. And Asllani didn’t shy away from revealing the intention of the club, simply stating “the vision is to be the best in England”.