It’s official: Sam Kerr will depart Chelsea on the finish of the season, bringing the curtain down on probably the most good, trophy-laden careers in Girls’s Tremendous League soccer.
The English giants introduced on Thursday (Friday, AEST) the Matildas captain will depart after six-and-a-half years when her contract expires in the summertime, together with her final recreation for the Blues set to be an emotional event towards Manchester United this weekend.
‘Clearly, there’s a bit little bit of disappointment,’ Kerr stated, saying her departure.
‘It is leaving Chelsea, leaving the membership the place I have been for therefore lengthy, leaving my teammates, leaving the followers.
‘However after I replicate on my Chelsea profession and doing it for the final time, I simply really feel blissful. Pleased that it occurred, and I really feel so grateful to have performed for this membership for six years and received as many trophies as we might.
‘The one factor that involves my thoughts is remembering all of the blissful moments, the enjoyable moments, and simply feeling actually proud.’
Sam Kerr will depart Chelsea on the finish of the season, bringing the curtain down on probably the most good, trophy-laden careers in Girls’s Tremendous League soccer
Kerr, 32, is tipped to signal with Denver Summit, who play within the NWSL competitors within the US (pictured, with spouse Kristie Mewis)
The choice had been extensively anticipated, with the 32-year-old reportedly snapped up by formidable NWSL franchise Denver Summit within the US final month.
However Kerr will finish her trophy-laden spell as Chelsea’s all-time main league scorer with 64 WSL objectives, whereas her 115 strikes in all competitions has her only one behind Fran Kirby because the Blues’ all-time main purpose scorer.
So it might nonetheless be a fairytale finish to her reign because the ‘Queen of Kingsmeadow’ if Kerr might go previous Kirby’s mark with a double in her last match towards the Purple Devils at Stamford Bridge.
Particular person and crew success went hand-in-hand for Kerr, who was twice the WSL’s Golden Boot winner as main scorer and was voted second in the Ballon d’Or because the world’s prime girls’s participant in 2023.
There have been tough occasions, too, none extra so when Kerr was charged with racially aggravated harassment towards a police officer following an incident in London in 2023.
She was discovered not responsible 13 months later following a high-profile trial.
Kerr was additionally sidelined for 20 months after sustaining a knee ligament harm in January 2024, however it’s a measure of her high quality that she returned this season to attain her one hundredth Chelsea purpose and, though it took a very long time for her to correctly recuperate health, she nonetheless ended prime scorer with 16 objectives in 29 matches.
Her type of late has provided glimpses of Kerr at her peak, resulting in strategies Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor ought to do all the pieces attainable to maintain her within the squad.
However the Blues have been strongly linked with Manchester Metropolis’s Khadija Shaw, who has supplanted the Australian because the deadliest striker within the WSL.
Married to American worldwide Kristie Mewis and with the pair having child son Jagger, Kerr is anticipated to now announce she’s resuming her profession within the US, the place she was beforehand the all-time main scorer within the NWSL.
Paying tribute to Kerr, Chelsea stated: ‘We thank Sam for her unbelievable contribution to our success on the pitch and sustained development off it.’
