After a frantic few days of negotiations, Alyssa Thompson is officially a Chelsea player.
The Athletic reported on Monday that the Womens Super League champions were in advanced talks with NWSL side Angel City over a deal for Thompson and revealed on Thursday that a verbal agreement had been reached. The 20-year-old forward agreed terms on Thursday, before the WSLs midnight transfer deadline, committing to a five-year deal.
Thompson joins a treble-winning attack that boasts Guro Reiten, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Aggie Beever-Jones, Catarina Macario, Lauren James, Sam Kerr, Maika Hamano, and Mayra Ramirez, who will miss the first half of the season after successful surgery on her hamstring.
Last weekend, manager Sonia Bompastor told reporters she was satisfied with the players at her disposal but would stay open to a good opportunity to improve the squad.
The club are spending more than £1million ($1.35m) after potential add-ons to sign Thompson. The Athletic explains what makes her a good fit
To understand Thompsons potential, you have to go back to 2023, when she was a high school student at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. The plan had been to enter the college system at Stanford, but that was turned on its head when Angel City recruited her. She was fast-tracked into professional football, making history as the youngest player selected in the NWSL draft before spending the past two seasons as a crucial member of Angel Citys attack and breaking into the U.S. womens national team squad.
Since she went straight from high school to playing for her hometown team, the move to Chelsea marks the first time Thompson has been away from home in her professional career.
Over the past two and a half years, Thompson has proven why Angel City took such a gamble to secure her services and why Chelsea have paid so much to pry her away.
First: speed.
At 5ft 4in (163cm), she is short but quick. Thompson primarily plays on the left wing, where her agility and acceleration allow her to wriggle away from defenders and burn into the space behind the back line. Her pace with the ball is crucial to dragging team-mates up the pitch. At Angel City, she shouldered a huge creative burden.
Since her professional debut, Thompson has added end product to the raw dribbling technique and speed that marked her out as a top prospect. She likes to cut inside on her right foot and carve out her own opportunities, as shown by the carry map above. She is not afraid to shoot from range either, and is capable of weaving around the edge of the box before squeezing in a shot. Her output in the NWSL has increased season-on-season, and she has already scored six goals for Angel City in 16 appearances in the 2025 campaign, compared to five in 26 appearances the previous season.
Although the shot was deflected, her 86th-minute winner against Orlando Pride on August 22 showed Thompsons clean ball-striking ability.
Thompsons skill from wide angles helps her team stretch defences. Leaving her to her own devices is too big a risk, so her presence drags opponents out of shape and creates space for those around her. New team-mates Beever-Jones and Hamano should benefit both are excellent at taking up dangerous positions in and around the box.
The attacking prowess and pace of full-back Sandy Baltimore could add a new dimension to her link-up play, too. Thompsons solo rampages down the wing for Angel City are fascinating to watch, but she occasionally runs out of ground and options, so she will relish having a partner to help her create overloads.
Its understandable why Chelsea want Thompson but does the club with the most attacking depth in the WSL need her, especially at such a high fee?
This move should be viewed in the context of Chelseas planning.
If left-winger Reiten, 31, departs when her contract expires at the end of the coming season, Thompsons similar profile represents a ready-made replacement.
Bompastor has also spoken numerous times about how depth is crucial to her sides efforts to compete across four competitions, a requirement that was thrown into sharp relief this week with the news of Ramirezs injury. Chelsea were already interested in Thompson and would have pursued the deal regardless of Ramirezs absence, but the signing is well-timed.
With Thompson out wide, Bompastor will be able to relieve Beever-Jones of any duties on the wing and have her fill in up front. James is also out injured, and Thompsons presence should prevent Chelsea from having to rush her return.
Still, Thompson is something of a rough diamond.
She has been polished over the past two years, adding greater finishing ability and tactical understanding to her game, particularly under the guidance of former Chelsea and current USWNT manager Emma Hayes. Like most 20-year-old forwards, her decision-making has room to improve. Like most 5ft 4in footballers, her physicality and aerial strength might not match the WSLs strongest defenders at first.
She will also need to find different ways to create chances. Her favoured method of cutting into central areas could work well with Baltimore on the overlap, but her crossing (which has not been a focus at Angel City) will need work to get the most out of partnerships with Kerr and Ramirez.
Chelsea are not signing a finished product. They will know this if they have been in touch with Hayes, who did not select Thompson for the 2024 Olympics. But they will also know, from Hayes, that she is a player with great potential to learn and improve from what is already a superb starting line.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women’s national team, Chelsea, Angel City, NWSL, Women’s Soccer
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