Picture Credit score: Abe Arredondo-Imagn Photographs
No switch within the historical past of ladies’s soccer has been greater than Naomi Girma’s transfer from San Diego Wave to Chelsea, which sources inform The Equalizer is the primary $1 million switch within the girls’s sport. As top-of-the-line gamers on this planet proper now, a number of components needed to align for this transfer to occur. So why Chelsea, and why now? Why was the transfer so costly? And the way does she slot in Chelsea’s setup?
The January switch window has traditionally been quieter than its summer season counterparts, with European groups usually reluctant to hunt out huge transfers mid-season. Nevertheless, with the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League season performed on an reverse schedule, strikes from the U.S. to Europe are made extra believable in the course of the winter.
Girma’s transfer to Chelsea was met with competitors from Olympique Lyonnais who had provided the same valuation. Nonetheless, Chelsea finally received the race for her signature.
The transfer represents Chelsea’s steady seek for one of the best expertise so as to add to their squad. If there’s a deal to be completed, Chelsea are normally within the combine.
The signing can be pushed partially by the necessity for centerback depth after Canadian worldwide Kadiesha Buchanan suffered an ACL damage in November. Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor presently has Millie Vibrant and Natalie Björn as her beginning center-backs with Maelys Mpome and Aniek Nouwen as backups. On the age of 21, Mpome remains to be early in her improvement while Nouwen hasn’t hit the bottom operating as a starter since her return from an ACL damage of her personal. Sjoeke Nüsken and Lucy Bronze have each crammed in at center-back when required however that’s not the place they’re finest utilized.
Entry one of the best girls’s soccer protection all 12 months lengthy
Begin your FREE, 7-day trial of The Equalizer Further for industry-leading reporting and perception on the USWNT, NWSL and past.
