Sonia Bompastor has agreed a contract extension as Chelsea’s head coach, the Guardian can reveal, as the club issue a strong signal of trust and confidence in the Frenchwoman.
Bompastor has been in charge at Chelsea since the summer of 2024, when she succeeded Emma Hayes on a deal to 2028. The 45-year-old completed a domestic season unbeaten during her first year and won a treble, as well as reaching the Women’s Champions League semi-finals.
News of her new deal comes despite the defending champions having slipped to third, 12 points behind the Women’s Super League leaders, Manchester City. According to sources the extension was agreed before Chelsea’s recent back-to-back losses against Arsenal and City and both parties retain full belief in one another.
Having lost consecutive league games for the first time in her managerial career, Bompastor spoke on Thursday about her belief that her team will bounce back when they travel to Tottenham in the WSL on Sunday. “We work hard with intensity,” she said. “We are facing a tough moment because we are not used to losing games but we also trust the quality we have in the squad, and I know it’s small tweaks for us to be in a better position. I’m confident from what I saw this week in our training sessions, we’ll be able to bounce back on Sunday.”
Formerly the head coach of Lyon – now OL Lyonnes – with whom she was a Champions League winner as a coach in 2022, Bompastor was Chelsea’s preferred candidate to pick up the baton from Hayes, who had been in charge for 12 years and oversaw a dominant, trophy-laden era.
This season Bompastor has guided Chelsea to another League Cup final, in which they will face Manchester United at Ashton Gate in March. Her side are also through to the Champions League quarter-finals, having been the highest-finishing English side in this season’s league phase, and in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
