“I’m a legend, where’s my Hall of Fame place?” Kerstin Casparij says laughing in response to a question about her outspokenness before quickly clarifying she is joking.
There is something of the cult hero about the 24-year-old Netherlands right-back. Since joining Manchester City from FC Twente in 2022, the defender has established herself as a key part of Gareth Taylor’s squad and recently signed a new deal that will keep her at the club until 2027.
December’s contract extension announcement naturally came with some social media flair, as is often the case with Casparij. In one post, she conducted a choir of City fans singing a song about her, while in another post, she halted signing the contract and held the finger of her partner, Ruth, as the lyrics of Wicked’s Defying Gravity played out, a reference to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s viral interview during the press tour for the film. It summed up Casparij: silly, very online, and authentically herself.
One of the most active players on social media in the Women’s Super League, Casparij’s Instagram presence centres on the puns in her post-match captions.
“DURing these 90 minutes, we went HAM,” she posted after a 4-0 win over Durham in the FA Cup last January. “Caption game strong,”…
