Alyssa Thompson: Chelsea agree club record deal for USA forward

With six successive WSL titles under their belt, Chelsea are showing no signs of slowing down in their desire to stay on top.

They are still chasing an elusive first Women’s Champions League title and have backed manager Sonia Bompastor ever since she arrived at the club a year ago.

First providing the funds to bring in USA’s Girma, fighting off competition from French side Lyon in the process, to then bringing in Australian full-back Ellie Carpenter from the eight-time European champions this summer.

Now they have added the icing on the cake with Thompson.

The additions they have made in the transfer window shows Chelsea’s continued ambition and their understanding that rival clubs are battling to catch up.

Arsenal’s stunning victory over Barcelona in last season’s Champions League final has put them in a strong position and the Gunners pulled out the stops to bring in Smith, former Liverpool vice-captain Taylor Hinds and England winger Chloe Kelly on a permanent deal from Manchester City.

Injuries in Chelsea’s frontline threatened to put them on the back foot for the start of the campaign, but knowing Arsenal had strengthened and even newly promoted WSL side London City Lionesses have spent big, the Blues acted sharply.

It has kept them in front for all this time and seen them become one of the most dominant teams in English women’s football history.

Thompson’s arrival is not only the latest trend of big-money moves at the club, but a statement of intent that they remain desperate to win a European crown.

For the young forward herself, it is a chance to break through on the main European stage, to play Champions League football and to experience a different style of football.

She has already become an established international under USA boss Emma Hayes – formerly of Chelsea – and this is an exciting challenge in her career.

It is a blow to the National Women’s Soccer League as it loses one of its rising stars, as well as Angel City, who tried to hold out under pressure from Chelsea to sell.

The WSL’s ambition is to be widely regarded as the world’s best domestic league in women’s football and this is another step towards that.