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June 2026 is a month Caroline Weir is unlikely to forget. She scored seven goals in two Scotland games as they clinched top spot in their World Cup qualifying group, watched on with joy at 2am as Scotland’s men secured their first World Cup win for 36 years and then her move to OL Lyonnes was confirmed by the eight-time European champions.
The Scotland captain says the lure of playing for Europe’s most decorated women’s club made the transfer an easy decision after four happy years playing for Real Madrid.
“At this stage in my career, I want to push on,” says the 30-year-old says of joining this season’s beaten Champions League finalists. “I want to be competing to win things, I want to be playing with the best players. I would love to be up there competing for the Champions League. The way the competition now is so competitive, there are so many more eyes on it and I want to be in the final stages.
“That’s never a given – it’s really tough to get to semi-finals and finals – but I want to be in the conversation or at least at a club [where] that’s what they prepare to be at. They’re a massive club with a successful history and lots of trophies. I want to challenge myself.”
Weir says conversations with the Lyonnes head coach, Jonatan Giráldez, helped her know this move was the right choice. The former Barcelona coach outlined how he envisaged her thriving in his tactical plans. “It was interesting speaking to him,” says Weir, who signed a three-year contract. “We spoke about things he thought I was good at. We also spoke about things he thought I could improve, which was good for me to hear, and my style of play, [being] a No 10, being left-footed and how he sees me playing alongside others in that position. We did speak quite in-depth about tactics. That gave me a good idea of what to expect.
“He’s worked with the best players and won everything so there were a number of factors involved, but it was an easy decision in the end.”
Spurs in talks to sign Panengstuen
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Tottenham are in advanced talks to sign the Norway goalkeeper Selma Panengstuen from SK Brann. The 23-year-old, who has played twice for Norway, is understood to be keen on the move and all parties are confident the deal will be concluded soon.
Spurs have signed Shekiera Martinez from West Ham, Caitlin Dijkstra from Wolfsburg and Kirsty Hanson from Aston Villa in this window, after finishing fifth in the Women’s Super League.
Panengstuen would be reunited with Martin Ho, who coached her briefly at Brann before his switch to Tottenham last summer. She is understood to have six months on her contract. Tom Garry
Photograph: Marius Simensen/Shutterstock Editorial
Before pre-season training begins in July, Weir has three big things on her to-do list for settling into a new city: finding a good nail salon, finding somewhere to get her eyelashes done and acquainting herself with the best local parks to walk her dog – Parc de la Tête d’Or, near the Rhône, should be ideal. Weir, who had never been to Lyon before discussing her transfer, says: “I know it’s the food capital of France; I’ve been hearing the food is amazing. When I went there, it reminded me a little bit of Edinburgh.”
Weir says, she and her husband will miss the Madrid lifestyle. She leaves as Real’s all-time record scorer with 63 goals in 125 appearances and will look back fondly on her four years in Spain, where she finished as a league runner-up to Barcelona each season.
“I reflect with very happy memories, on and off the pitch,” says Weir. “My only regret is we didn’t win that first title. But apart from that, how I impacted the team, I’m really proud of those statistics. Me and my husband were very happy there. It’s an amazing lifestyle, an amazing city. But I feel like that chapter came to a natural end and I was ready to move on.”
Bidding farewell to Weir, Real said theywished to “express its gratitude and affection for everything she has contributed to our club, as well as for her professionalism, commitment, and dedication”. She also received a personalised message on a signed shirt from Jude Bellingham. “Jude and I have spoken several times. We’ve always got on well and had nice conversations about the club and Madrid. For him to write that message – I would have been happy with the signed top – just shows how classy a person he is. He’s a great guy and that was a really nice touch.”
They could not meet to say goodbye because Bellingham was training with England for the World Cup, which is whetting Weir’s appetite for next summer’s Women’s World Cup in Brazil. After Weir scored a hat-trick against Israel on 5 June, then backed it up with four goals against the same opponent four days later, Scotland have topped their League B group in European qualifying to reach the playoffs. They will find out their playoff opponents on Thursday.
After watching the men beat Haiti as a fan back home in Scotland, Weir, named as the women’s captain in February, says: “I’ve never seen so many Scotland tops. It is amazing. Scotland flags on cars, outside houses. It’s really special. It’s so inspiring.
“Going to Brazil for a World Cup, it’s No 1 on my list of dreams. We were speaking about it a lot recently and because the guys are there, the experiences they’re having and how much the country is supporting them, we would love a bit of that.
“We’ve completed the first step, getting to the playoffs, and then we’ll look forward to the playoffs at the end of the year. We’ll take it step by step.”
