Michele Kang stays busy.

When she’s not acquiring women’s soccer clubs to add to her portfolio, she speaks at summits on the global game and hosts international clubs at the Washington Spirit. Kang has put leagues in multiple countries in conversation with each other, from the Spirit to London City Lionesses to the venerable Lyon in France. She’s seen the writing on the wall, which says to invest now before it’s too late — and be willing to think global as seen in the recent U.S. tours by Arsenal and Chelsea that included a stop in DC.

When Kang first bought into NWSL as a primary owner, her $35 million (£26.5m) takeover of the Spirit was seen as a blockbuster financial move compared to the $5 million purchase of the Kansas City Current and the approximate $2 million original entry fee for the Utah Royals. The price wasn’t necessarily an objective valuation, coming after months of increasingly acrimonious negotiation with former co-owners Steve Baldwin and Bill Lynch, who drove up the initial asking price from $21 million.

Still, it was a turning point in the valuation of NWSL teams, a rubicon from which there is no going back barring some unforeseen disaster. The NWSL is part of a booming global women’s soccer market as multiple leagues build audiences and each…

Former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Kheira Hamraoui has signed with Saudi Arabia women’s Premier League side Al-Shabab.

The 34-year-old left PSG upon the expiry of her contract in the summer of 2023 nearly two years after she was attacked by a masked man who hit her with an iron bar, targeting her legs.

Although initially released without charge, in September 2022, Hamraoui’s former PSG team-mate Aminata Diallo and five men were arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy.

According to a police report, Diallo instigated the attack on Hamraoui, her motive being “violent sporting jealousy”. Diallo maintains she is innocent; the five men say they acted on the orders of a person they will not or cannot name. The investigation is ongoing.

In September 2023 Hamraoui joined Club America in Mexico and made 11 appearances but left before the end of the calendar year. She has not played since but did feature in this year’s Soccer Aid World XI team in June.

“We all have a choice,” Hamraoui wrote on Instagram. “I took a break for six months and it was the most important thing for me.

“I felt the need to get back to the essential things in life that we often forget: our mental health, our inner peace, our balance and our…

Chelsea Women have signed France international Louna Ribadeira from Paris FC.

Ribadeira signs a four-year contract at Kingsmeadow and will return to Paris FC on loan for the 2024-25 season.

“I’m so happy to join Chelsea because for me it is one of the best teams in the world,” said Ribadeira. “I’ll continue my development at Paris for now and join Chelsea with more experience and more development of myself as a player.”

Chelsea general manager Paul Green said: “Louna has shown great promise early on in her career and we believe her instinctive finishing will prove to be a real asset to the club in the future.

“We look forward to welcoming her to the Chelsea family after she has continued her development back at Paris FC next season, where she has already benefited from regular game time.”

Ribadeira has made 60 club appearances for Paris FC and recently made her international debut for France in a 2-1 victory over England.

The 20-year-old will eventually link up with compatriot Sonia Bompastor, who replaced Emma Hayes as head coach earlier this summer.

She becomes the west London club’s fifth summer signing following the arrivals of Lucy Bronze, Oriane Jean-Francois, Sandy Baltimore and Julia Bartel.

Chelsea begin the defence of their Women’s Super League (WSL)…

Manchester City completed a PFA Player of the Year double on Tuesday night as midfielder Phil Foden and striker Bunny Shaw were named men’s and women’s winners for 2023-24.

Foden, 24, scored 19 goals and provided eight assists to help City clinch an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title under Pep Guardiola.

Erling Haaland — who won last season’s crown — was one of six nominees, including City midfielder Rodri, Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard, Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer.

Shaw finished the campaign as the top scorer in the Women’s Super League (WSL) with 21 goals in 18 games for the club, despite having her season prematurely ended by a foot injury in late April.

The Jamaica international becomes the first female City player to scoop the award since Lucy Bronze won the accolade in 2016-17.

Shaw’s Man City team-mates Yui Hasegawa and Lauren Hemp were also nominated, alongside Chelsea’s Niamh Charles, Erin Cuthbert and Lauren James.

Having missed out on the evening’s main award, City academy graduate Cole Palmer was crowned the men’s Young Player of the Year after an outstanding debut campaign at…

The U.S. women’s national team are Olympic gold medalists again. And while it’s only been 10 days since they defeated Brazil 1-0 in Paris to reclaim their place as the No. 1 team in the world, Emma Hayes’ players will soon be back with their respective clubs, pushing for even more silverware.

Most of the gold medalists are expected to return to the NWSL next week, as the league resumes on August 23 after a six-week pause for the Games. Clubs are already marketing players’ returns with on-field ceremonies and celebrations and many players are already back in their teams’ home markets, if not out on the field.

New Jersey-based Gotham FC’s roster includes six U.S. Olympians – Lynn Williams, Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn, Emily Sonnett, Tierna Davidson and Jenna Nighswonger – plus bronze-medalist Germany’s goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. Several of the gold medalists were at Red Bull Arena on Monday for the friendly against English champions, and Hayes’ previous employers, Chelsea. They watched Chelsea’s 3-1 win, and mingled with their teammates before and after.

Gotham FC has dubbed the home match against Portland Thorns on Saturday as its…

After back-to-back third-place finishes, Jonas Eidevall is changing it up. This summer has seen Arsenal Women take a different path as they begin their first pre-season tour of the United States.

More than 3,600 miles away from home in Washington D.C., head coach Eidevall has called it “the most proper pre-season” he has overseen since taking charge in 2021.

Eidevall’s first summer with Arsenal was fragmented by Covid-19 restrictions, which stalled any direct contact with his new team. The two summers that followed were dominated by the 2022 European Championship and last summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Even this summer has taken in the Paris Olympics, but the Arsenal players who did compete will join the rest of the squad on the tour.

“Out of the Olympic players, we have had a trio from Australia (Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Kyra Cooney-Cross) that joined us yesterday on the travel day,” Eidevall said. “Then we have three players (Laia Codina, Mariona Caldentey and Emily Fox) who will join us on Monday, the day after we play Washington Spirit.

“We have had a lot of players who were off in the summer and now are starting to train with the team. They have a lot of freshness but don’t start with a lot of fitness, so they need to…

Esme Morgan has just been to Trader Joe’s looking for oil, salt and pepper.

“I had to do my grocery shop,” the Sheffield-born defender tells The Athletic, air quoting as she says the final two words. “I’m being quite stubborn and trying to keep most of my words. I’ve not had to say the ‘s-word’ so far.”

It’s still football, not soccer. An s-word that has caused confusion, though, is squash. Morgan pulled up pictures of Robinsons blackcurrant squash, a well-known concentrated fruit drink in the UK, but her new Washington Spirit team-mates stared back blankly, explaining there was no equivalent. A quick online order solved that issue.

Morgan’s thirst has been accentuated by the humidity in Washington D.C., a stark contrast to the Mancunian drizzle she had left behind. The muggy weather made her mile time trial — a test as part of her integration into training — that bit harder, but she is enjoying stepping out in just a T-shirt and shorts.

These are just some differences the 23-year-old is adapting to since leaving Manchester City, where she spent nine years before signing for National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) side Washington Spirit on a three-year deal this summer, turning July into a whirlwind for Morgan.

Having qualified for the 2025 European…

The policy that helps inform which match officials are chosen to appoint games in the Premier League, English Football League and Women’s Super League has been published for the first time.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) — the body in charge of refereeing in England — chief Howard Webb revealed that in an effort to be more transparent, his organisation wanted to make the appointments policy and its guidelines available to the public.

After earlier confusion due to Webb’s comments, PGMOL has since clarified the allegiances of individual officials within its organisation will not be made available to the public.

The move comes after public refereeing controversies in the Premier League particularly last season. Stuart Atwell, for example, was accused by Nottingham Forest of being a Luton Town fan following Forest’s controversial 2-0 defeat at Everton when the official was on video assistant refereeing duties.

GO DEEPER

Nottingham Forest, Stuart Attwell’s Luton link and a melodrama played out on social media

“Officials are asked to declare any specific interests in advance of the season and as the season goes on should any of those things change,” Webb explained. “That (the appointment policy) will be made public I believe and coming out as well so…

It has been a long wait to hear from Sonia Bompastor. The new Chelsea manager was announced as Emma Hayes’ successor in June, confirming one of the worst-kept secrets in women’s football. Two months on, with some fans joking she must be swimming from France to England, she has finally spoken publicly.

The anticipation about what she would say and what she might bring is understandable. For a significant proportion of people following the Women’s Super League (WSL), this is the first time they have known Chelsea Women without Hayes in the dugout. One of Bompastor’s first challenges will be putting her own stamp on a club so inextricably linked with the now-USWNT manager.

“I am a completely different person from Emma,” she said at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. “I have a different vision and philosophy.

“For me, it is really important to come to this club, respect everything that was built before and build my own vision. I think with my background and experience, I can support the players and the club to achieve their goals.

“I feel so lucky to have this opportunity after Emma and to show who I am as a manager and a person. The pressure is something I really like because it makes me better. I already told everyone, I am here to win every single title and every…

Arsenal have confirmed the departure of Cloe Lacasse on a permanent transfer to NWSL side Utah Royals.

Lacasse has joined the Royals on a contract until the end of the 2027 NWSL season.

The Royals has added the 31-year-old forward to the roster by acquiring an international roster spot through to 2025 in a trade with NJ/NY Gotham FC in exchange for $100,000 in allocation money.

Lacasse spent just one season in north London after signing from Benfica last summer and made 28 appearances, scoring five goals. She also helped Jonas Eidevall’s side win the 2023-24 Continental Cup final, starting in their 1-0 win over Chelsea at Molineux.

19 of those appearances were in the Women’s Super League but just six were starts, with Caitlin Foord and Beth Mead often starting ahead of her out wide.

Arsenal signing Mariona Caldentey, who can operate out wide as well as an attacking midfielder, from Barcelona this summer could see Lacasse’s opportunities for game-time dwindle further this season.

“We are excited to be adding a player of Cloe’s quality to our squad,” said Royals sporting director Kelly Cousins. “Her ability on the ball is world-class, but her industry on both sides of the ball speaks to her character. Her presence will be important in continuing to build our club’s…