U.S. women’s national team forward Alyssa Thompson is leaving Angel City FC for English club Chelsea.
The transfer fee is reportedly just under $1.5 million, nearly a world record for women’s soccer.
The move highlights a potential vulnerability for the NWSL in retaining top talent against European teams.
U.S. women’s national team forward Alyssa Thompson has made a major – and somewhat surprising – move, departing Angel City of the NWSL for English giants Chelsea.
The $1.5 million figure is the world record for a transfer fee in women’s soccer, a mark that was set just last month when the Orlando Pride acquired Lizbeth Ovalle, a winger for the Mexican national team. That said, it may have fallen late Thursday, with French outlet L’Equipe reporting that London City Lionesses had spent roughly $1.92 million to acquire midfielder Grace Geyoro from Paris Saint-Germain.
Thompson, 20, should be eligible to play for Chelsea once the relevant transfer paperwork and work visas in the United Kingdom are approved. The Women’s Super League season begins on Friday, with Chelsea hosting Manchester City in a clash of title contenders. Chelsea is hoping to win a seventh consecutive title, six of which came during current USWNT head coach’s Emma Hayes’ tenure.
Thompson, whose younger sister Gisele remains an Angel City player, has 22 USWNT caps, scoring three goals in those appearances. In 16 NWSL appearances for Angel City this season – where she was widely considered the team’s best player – the elder Thompson scored six goals and added two assists. She departs having posted 15 goals and 11 assists in 62 total regular-season appearances for the L.A.-based club.
Thompson’s departure from Angel City arrived rather abruptly, with buzz around Chelsea’s interest only coming to the surface in recent days. On Monday, the Los Angeles native was held out of Angel City’s 2-1 win over Bay FC, with the club listing her as an ‘excused absence’ on the official NWSL availability report.
Chelsea’s urgency to complete the move likely stemmed from the realities of soccer transfer rules. English women’s teams had until 6 p.m. ET Thursday to complete transfers; otherwise, a player would not be eligible to play in any competitive game until the secondary transfer window opens on Jan. 1, 2026.
Here’s what to know about USWNT attacker Alyssa Thompson joining Chelsea:
Alyssa Thompson to Chelsea: USWNT forward leaves Angel City
Alyssa Thompson’s move to Chelsea is major news on both sides of the Atlantic, and could have huge short- and long-term implications in the NWSL.
For Chelsea, the math is fairly straightforward: Thompson is one of the sport’s top young players, with her ability to beat defenders off the dribble a prized quality. Her speed in the open field will make her one of the WSL’s fastest players, and her new head coach, Sonia Bompastor, will be able to underline this transfer as evidence that the Blues are not resting on their laurels.
From Thompson’s perspective, there are also major positives at play. Back in January, the forward signed a contract extension running through 2028, but Chelsea, which – thanks to very different league rules, have fewer financial restrictions to cope with than Angel City – is expected to have given her a significant raise. With USWNT teammates Naomi Girma and Catarina Macario already playing for the Blues, Thompson will have friendly faces to guide her as she adjusts to a different environment.
The parties that might not be so happy with the situation are Angel City and the NWSL as a whole. Through her play, local roots, and some injury trouble for veteran stars, Thompson had become the face of ACFC. Her skill set and marketability (particularly in Los Angeles) will be immensely difficult to replace long-term, and virtually impossible during the 2025 season.
Why so difficult? The NWSL transfer window closed last month, and while trades are still possible until the roster freeze date on Oct. 9, the other 13 teams will know that Angel City has just had a financial windfall while also walking into a bind in terms of their roster composition. After winning two straight, ACFC sits in ninth place on 23 points, trailing NJ/NY Gotham FC for the eighth and final postseason berth by a single point with eight games to play.
For the NWSL, the news may be even worse. While speculation that the league is doomed to lose all of its stars to free-spending European sides remains unfounded, there’s no pretending that losing one of the league’s best young players mere months after she had signed a long-term contract isn’t a blow.
The problem stems less from Thompson’s departure and more from the nature of her move. It’s no disrespect to Ovalle to say that – with a long-term contract in place, Thompson’s age, and her potential to become one of the very best attacking players in the world – Chelsea should have been expected to pay a significantly higher fee to get Angel City to engage in talks.
Instead, Thompson is off to London without breaking the global transfer record, which seems like a serious undervaluation. Chelsea entered the talks with all the pressure of completing a transfer against an impending deadline, yet looked for all the world like a team that landed a player whose value will skyrocket in the very near future.
For the NWSL, that’s the problem. It’s one thing for Chelsea, Arsenal, and French giant OL Lyonnes (whose owner, Michelle Kang, also owns the Washington Spirit) to have interest in the league’s superstars. That’s going to happen, because the NWSL has such a long list of outstanding players. It’s another thing entirely to see a player in that class depart with no near-term means of replacing them, and at a price that does not make sense stacked up against the other major transfers over the last 12 months.
Whether it’s by raising the salary cap, calendar changes to align with European transfer windows, or creating new rules that allow teams more leeway to retain their most in-demand players, the NWSL will have to seriously consider major changes in response to what seems like a clear vulnerability.