Chelsea are on the verge of signing the United States winger Alyssa Thompson from Angel City on the Women’s Super League’s transfer deadline day, for an upfront fee understood to be just shy of $1.5m (£1.1m), which sources say could climb close to a world-record sum with potential add-ons.
The 20-year-old completed a medical on Thursday in London, after boarding a flight from Los Angeles late on Wednesday night, amid extensive negotiations between the two clubs. All parties are increasingly confident the move will be finalised in time for the 11pm BST transfer deadline.
The current world record transfer fee for a women’s footballer stands at the $1.5m that was paid by Orlando Pride last month to sign Lizbeth Ovalle from the Mexican side Tigres, which eclipsed the £1m move by Arsenal to sign Olivia Smith from Liverpool in July. It is understood Chelsea’s move for Thompson would not be a world-record fee upfront but could rise to be so with add-ons.
It comes on a busy day in the WSL transfer window which has already seen the promoted side London City Lionesses confirm the signing of the Barcelona youngster Lucia Corrales. They are understood to have met the release clause for the Spain youth international in the region of €500,000 (£435,000).
But London City Lionesses could still break the world record by the end of the night as they are believed to have been in advanced talks to sign the France midfielder Grace Geyoro from Paris Saint-Germain. Geyoro has three years left on her existing contract.
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Elsewhere, Grace Clinton has completed her medical at Manchester City for a much-anticipated deal that will mean her England teammate Jess Park moving in the other direction, to Manchester United. Both clubs are expected to confirm that switch later on Thursday.
