It has been an open secret for months that Chelsea would appoint Sonia Bompastor as the new manager of their women’s team and, finally, that news has been announced officially. The Lyon head coach was offered the job in February but the parties agreed the move would only be made public once the 2023-24 season had concluded for both clubs.
Even when asked about her future after Lyon’s Champions League final defeat by Barcelona on Saturday — her final game in charge of the French side — Bompastor said: “It’s not the right moment to talk about it. I’m really disappointed (with the result against Barca) and that’s the main thing. It’s not the question tonight.”
It was always going to be a long, drawn-out process, especially given Chelsea announced Emma Hayes’ departure seven months ago, on November 4. The Athletic reported shortly after that she was to take the U.S. women’s national team job.
GO DEEPER
The USWNT are hiring a serial winner in Emma Hayes – a coach with unfinished business in the U.S.
Her decision came as a shock to senior members at Chelsea, the team’s staff and players, and there was no succession plan in place for a manager who had been in the job since 2012.
Chelsea found themselves in an odd and rare position of having so much time to…
