Chelsea Women sign Australia captain Sam Kerr on a two-and-a-half year deal
The 26-year-old forward will join the club when the mid-season transfer window opens on December 27 linking up with the squad for the second half of the 2019/20 Barclays Women’s Super League season.
Kerr had previously split her playing time between Perth Glory in the Australian W-League from October to April, then Chicago Red Stars in America’s National Women’s Soccer League from April to September.
Widely regarded as one of the best players in the women’s game, the Ballon d’Or nominee is the W-League’s all-time leading goalscorer with 70 goals. She was the first Australian of either gender to score a hat-trick at a World Cup, having made her international debut aged 15, and was named the 2017 Asian Football Confederation’s Women’s Footballer of the Year. She has also been named as one of the five finalists for the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year for the last two seasons.
Ahead of her move to Chelsea, Kerr said: “The WSL is the best league in Europe. I want team success and I don’t want it to come easy. I feel Chelsea have been building something special over the years and I want to be a part of that – I want to lift some trophies.”
Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes added: “Sam has proved time and time again in the NWSL that she is a prolific goalscorer. She’s won the golden boot many times and she’s a player that can make things happen.
“The fact she chose Chelsea when she could have gone to any club in the world is a testament to the players and the staff here.”
