Chelsea have accomplished the signing of USA defender Naomi Girma for a girls’s world report price.
The 24-year-old has signed a contract till summer time 2029 after the Girls’s Tremendous League (WSL) leaders this week agreed to pay San Diego Wave about £900,000.
“I am so blissful and actually excited to be right here. It would not really feel actual,” Girma advised the Chelsea web site earlier than being launched to followers at Stamford Bridge for Sunday’s WSL match in opposition to Arsenal.
“There are numerous issues about Chelsea that made me need to come right here – the tradition, the profitable mentality, workers and gamers.
“It is a high setting to be taught and develop in. Proper now, that is what I am seeking to do. It was a simple selection for me.”
The price exceeds the earlier report of £685,000, when Bay FC signed Racheal Kundananji final February.
Chelsea set the British switch report in for £384,000 in January 2024.
Girma is Chelsea’s first signing of the January switch window after they fought off competitors from Lyon.
Chelsea made her a precedence goal after shedding defender Kadeisha Buchanan to a season-ending knee damage.
Head of girls’s soccer Paul Inexperienced stated: “Naomi is a world-class defender who’s now coming into the prime years of her profession.
“Her composure on the ball, capability to learn the sport, coupled along with her tempo and athleticism, will add fine quality to an already very proficient squad.
“She is undoubtedly prepared for this subsequent step in her profession and we’re delighted will probably be with Chelsea.”
In 2023 Girma helped San Diego win the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League (NWSL) Protect and was named US Soccer’s feminine participant of the 12 months.
She was a part of the USA aspect that received gold on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
‘A press release of intent’ – evaluation
Emma Sanders, BBC Sport girls’s senior soccer reporter
Girma’s abilities aren’t any secret and she or he is broadly thought to be among the best feminine footballers.
Former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, now the USA supervisor, stated final 12 months Girma was the world’s greatest centre-back and she is going to little doubt be happy to see her outdated membership scoop her up.
Having loved a style of silverware with the USA and San Diego, Girma arrives in England with ambitions to win extra trophies, significantly within the Champions League, and is believed to have had discussions with Hayes about what to anticipate from Chelsea.
Lyon provided increased wages and had been ready to match the switch price that Chelsea finally had accepted by San Diego, however Girma’s desire was all the time to affix the Blues.
It’s supervisor Sonia Bompastor’s most important signing to this point and the membership consider Girma will take them one step nearer to a primary European title.
The long-term deal agreed can be a press release of intent from Chelsea – that they’re able to appeal to the world’s greatest abilities and, hopefully, hold them.
