LUCY Bronze is rumoured to be joining WSL giants Chelsea for the start of the 2024/25 season.
The five-time UEFA Women’s Champions League winner departed Barcelona Feminí last week following the expiration of her contract.
Bronze joined the Catalan side in June 2022 with Manchester City teammate, Keira Walsh.
In her time with Barça, Bronze won two UWCL titles, two Liga F titles and three domestic cups.
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor is rumoured to be in the lead to clinch Bronze on a free transfer, bringing her back to the WSL for the third time.
Bompastor and Bronze have a mutual connection in Olympique Lyonnais; Bompastor managed the side for the last three seasons and Bronze played for the team between 2017 and 2020.
The pair also share a successful history in the UWCL, having won the competition eight times between the both of them.
The UWCL was a trophy that former manager Emma Hayes failed to lift, and despite Chelsea’s consistency with having strong squad depth, only two of the current squad have won the final (Kadeisha Buchanan and Cat Macario, also with Lyon).
Bronze is a player with incredible pedigree, not just at club level, but on the international stage too.
The right-back has 123 caps for England, and played a key role in winning the 2022 Euros on home soil.
It will be a strange feeling for fans to imagine Bronze playing for a London side, as her previous English clubs are all situated in the North: Sunderland, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City.
She brings experience, she brings knowledge and she’s got the ever-expanding trophy cabinet (without even touching on her individual awards).
But why Chelsea?
Barça have a very fast-paced and fluid style of play, which Bronze adjusted to as it allowed her free reign of the right flank where she also sometimes drifts inside to create a midfield overload.
However, the club and Bronze were unable to negotiate a new contract before its expiry date.
As Chelsea step into a new era under Bompastor, the world is yet to see what is in store for fans and critics alike.
Hayes rotated her wide players often and encouraged her players to play with adaptability.
Phil Neville famously trialled Bronze in a holding midfield position in 2019, but it didn’t last long until she returned to full-back.
Bronze is well-adjusted to the physical and psychological demands of playing for a top-flight team in the WSL, and City have long been a formidable foe to Chelsea.
The 32-year-old will be what Chelsea need in terms of how it feels to actually win a UWCL medal – the closest Chelsea have gotten was when they reached the final in 2021.
Chelsea fans are accustomed to seeing Bronze grace Kingsmeadow or Stamford Bridge in colours other than royal blue, and it might be their opinions on the potential signing that sway Bronze’s success with the club.
Hayes is best known for turning players into trophy-winning household names, Niamh Charles for example, who can play as a wing-back and full-back.
She will be familiar with Bronze through their shared time with the Lionesses but despite the seven years between them, Charles has cemented herself as a well-rounded player in recent seasons.
As Bronze’s transfer fate is yet to be confirmed (NWSL teams are also in the race to sign her) it cannot be concluded as to how and where she will fit into Bompastor’s plans.
This year’s summer transfer window has already been surprising, note Vivianne Miedema to City today, and Bronze’s next destination might just add to that pile.
