Chloe Kelly’s departure from Manchester City is one of the most public and fraught transfers in WSL history. We take a look at all sides of the winger’s move to rivals Arsenal and analyse the fallout.
The view from… Chloe Kelly
Chloe Kelly was invaluable to Man City’s push to rival Chelsea for the WSL title last season
Kelly has been open with her frustrations, taking to social media before and after her move to Arsenal was completed.
She’s accused Manchester City of trying to “assassinate her character” and “false accusations” after her relationship with the club deteriorated.
Kelly sees the next few months as “pivotal” in her career, with Sarina Wiegman warning her first-team football is essential if she’s to be selected by England for this summer’s Euros.
Kelly wanted to stay in the north west and Manchester United’s interest seemed like the perfect solution, both on a personal and professional basis.
Sunday 2nd February 11:30am
Kick off 12:00pm
United’s multiple approaches, however, were rejected which led to an increasing sense of disappointment and sadness on the player’s part.
A temporary move back to her teenage club Arsenal will hopefully see Kelly rediscover her form, and perhaps more importantly still, her smile.
The view from… Manchester City
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Sky Sports’ Anton Toloui explains why Chloe Kelly’s loan move to Arsenal from Man City on Deadline Day is ‘one of the messiest break-ups in WSL history’.
Manchester City have tried to balance the will of the player and the needs of the club throughout.
Sources inside the club insist they have worked hard to help find Kelly first-team football but the situation hasn’t been simple.
A loan offer from Brighton was accepted by the club but rejected by the winger, who held out for a more favourable move.
Interest from Manchester United was rejected, with sources split on the nature of the offers.
Insiders at Man City claim United’s offer didn’t meet the requirement of paying Kelly’s wages in full. On the other hand, Sky Sports News has also been told United explored loan and permanent deals for the player.
When Arsenal’s offer came in a few hours before the deadline it represented a deal she was happy to take.
As for the relationship between club and player, it’s clear things became increasingly fractious as it got closer to the deadline.
City were unhappy with Kelly’s conduct as her frustrations grew, a situation that became almost untenable after she was unavailable for games after the winter break.
The view from… Arsenal
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Highlights of the Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and Arsenal.
Arsenal, who were blunt in their attack against WSL leaders Chelsea on Sunday, are delighted to have added a player with such a creative spark at a fractionally low cost.
Kelly came through their system as a teenager at London Colney and is highly thought of.
With England’s Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Beth Mead at the club, she has friends ready to make her feel comfortable and welcome on and off the pitch.
Renee Slegers will also be happy she has another weapon to deploy as Arsenal look to go deep in domestic cup competitions and mount a challenge in the Champions League.
The view from… Manchester United
Chloe Kelly was keen on a move to Manchester rivals United before switching to Arsenal
Manchester United are disappointed they missed out on a player they rate so highly but weren’t prepared to pay over the odds in January.
Kelly’s stay in north London is a temporary one for now, which means United could come back in for her as a free agent in the summer.
They will be monitoring Kelly’s form and future closely over the coming months.
In summary
Ultimately, the situation is a sad end to a fantastic four-and-a-half years at Manchester City for the 27-year-old.
During that time Kelly developed into one of the league’s best wide players, broke into the England squad, scored the most important goal in Lionesses history and gave fans plenty of moments of excitement and quality.
She spent almost a year on the sidelines with a horrible ACL injury but came back so strongly that her end-of-season form earned her a late run for a place in the 2022 Euros squad.
The rest was history, as they say, and as it stands, so is her time at Manchester City.
