Crystal Dunn mentioned Wednesday that leaving the NWSL “wasn’t the simplest determination,” because the veteran midfielder opened up about her abrupt departure from Gotham FC and determination to hitch Paris Saint-Germain final month.
Dunn is again within the States with the U.S. ladies’s nationwide crew as they put together to compete within the tenth version of the SheBelieves Cup. Talking with reporters forward of the event at Houston Sports activities Park, the 32-year-old from New York spoke candidly about her sudden departure from her hometown membership.
“It wasn’t the simplest determination, off the bat, to only uproot and transfer overseas,” Dunn mentioned about leaving the Gotham FC. “I’m married and have a baby, so it wasn’t one thing that I all the time thought I’d do at this stage of my profession, nevertheless it has been completely unbelievable.”
Final month, Gotham introduced it had mutually agreed to half methods with Dunn. Days later, PSG shortly introduced her signing.
Gotham at first explored buying and selling Dunn throughout the league, together with doubtlessly with Seattle Reign, league sources informed . However a deal by no means materialized due to the membership’s asking value for Dunn.
Dunn is a part of a small wave of gamers who’ve left the NWSL this offseason for Europe, sparking a bigger dialog concerning the present state of the league.
USWNT teammate Jenna Nighswonger additionally left Gotham, signing with Arsenal final month. Days earlier than that, fellow nationwide crew defender Naomi Girma left San Diego Wave for Chelsea, turning into the costliest switch in ladies’s soccer historical past for a document $1.1 million charge.
Whereas Dunn’s husband, a former participant and athletic coach, has roots in France, signing with Gotham two years in the past was seen as a homecoming for the USWNT veteran, who hails from Lengthy Island.
“France is a particular place for me,” Dunn mentioned. “I’ve discovered plenty of success there. I converse just a little little bit of the language, not so good as I ought to, however — the choice I made was to actually simply to problem myself, to be in a very new atmosphere and to go on a brand new journey.”
Dunn mentioned leaving the NWSL supplied her the chance to expertise the sources out there to gamers at PSG and to do one thing totally different after a number of years within the NWSL. She has performed within the league throughout a number of groups since 2014, with a quick stint at Chelsea in 2017.
“Finally, I’ve been within the NWSL for a very long time. I’ve had plenty of superb moments, and I believe when confronted with this chance, I type of simply realized that I can proceed on and stay within the NWSL and proceed doing what I’ve in the end been doing for some time,” Dunn continued.
“However I believe at the moment, I used to be like, ‘yeah, why not?’ Like, why not do one thing fully totally different and play for a crew that I believe has plenty of attain and plenty of sources? The amenities are unbelievable, and I believe, for me, I really feel just about like a extremely, correct skilled with simply entering into such a very new atmosphere with so many sources.”
Dunn was on the beginning lineup with PSG over the weekend, subbing out within the 79th minute throughout the crew’s 4-1 win towards Montpellier. She is going to return to the pitch tomorrow with the USWNT, as they open the SheBelieves Cup towards Colombia at Shell Power Stadium.
The crew then goes on to face Australia in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 23, and Japan in San Diego on Feb. 26, as they push for his or her sixth consecutive and eighth total SheBelieves title.
This text initially appeared in .
US Ladies’s nationwide crew, Soccer, NWSL, USWNT
2025 The Athletic Media Firm
