What’s the future of Chelsea’s Eriksson and Harder?

The contract decisions of two of the Chelsea Women’s most influential players on and off the pitch are still up in the air as several extensions of players throughout the roster have been confirmed. Since the beginning of September 2019, Swedish defender Magdelena Eriksson has been the captain of CFC following the departure of Karen Carney. It is reported that Eriksson and her partner in crime, Pernille Harder would love to join the same club when their contracts are up at the end of the season. The question remains of what the Blues should do with these two world-class talents given the amount of youth and depth that has entered the squad recently.

If Eriksson is going to be coming back to west London, then the Danish attacker, Harder, may follow. Lyon has been reported as a club that is interested in both of them in order to add much-needed depth to a side that is currently playing without the services of star players Catarina Macario and Ada Hegerberg due to injuries.

The depth of this team and its ability to overcome Harder’s injuries over the past few seasons make it realistic that CFCW may be willing to move on from one of the most talented players at the top end of the pitch in women’s football. Although looking at the current situation of the club, it may not be able to live without Harder given the loss of Bethany England now becoming official.

On top of that, letting Eriksson walk means letting go of one of the club’s most prominent leaders, and faces since she joined in 2017 from the Swedish top-flight. The acquisition of Kadeisha Buchanan moved Eriksson down a peg to CFC’s third-best defender on the roster and forced her to push to left back instead of her regular center-back position.

The Blues will without question put two offers on the table to attempt to retain both stars, but how much are they willing to offer given the amount of money distributed throughout the roster over the last few months through transfers and extensions? Injuries have riddled Harder’s CFC tenure, and in the first half of this season, Eriksson struggled to find some sort of consistency in her new position as left-back.

Over the coming weeks or months, Hayes and the club have to have conversations with both players in order to see where each of them stands on their futures with the football club. Ending this current campaign on a high is the No. 1 priority, but just like the Blues have been looking forward by securing the services of many stars that have contracts expiring in 2023, the goal has to be maintaining this sort of success for years to come.

With England now officially moved to north London as of Wednesday afternoon, CFC should feel the need to fill the role of depth at the attacking position for years to come. Harder fits the mold perfectly, but with her and Sam Kerr aging into their thirties, Hayes could feel obligated to make the squad a bit younger by signing talented Dutch youngster Romee Leuchter from Ajax. Leuchter has scored 37 goals in 33 starts for the two-time Vrouwen Eredivisie league winners in two seasons at the club after joining from PSV. Given how highly sought out Leuchter is by nearly every club in European football, CFC may have to look outside the box to a more mid-table club in order to discover someone that is willing to play behind Kerr for a few seasons.

It is one of the few dilemmas that Paul Green and the club face at the moment, but whenever two top-class talents are involved, the issue has to be brought to the forefront. Arguably one of the greatest leaders in the history of the Chelsea Women may be playing her final months in a CFC kit. Harder came into the club as the most expensive women’s transfer of all time, helping to really jumpstart the Blues by signing some of the best talents from around the world.

Each of them has its own significance and importance to the growth of the Chelsea Women to where the club is today but is it going to be the final chapter of one of the most successful in Blues’ lore? The intelligent choice would be to give both of them extensions, but is the club even in the position to do that at the moment? The two have combined for 183 WSL and Champions League appearances, leaving an enormous gap to fill if both their futures are going to be elsewhere. However you cut it, CFC has two of the world’s best footballers out of contract at the conclusion of the season.

Fighting for the Champions League is the ultimate goal, and giving these two small extensions will create an even larger window to do so. Ultimately, no matter how much these two love CFC, it is going to be up to both of them whether or not they are going to stay, and Blues fans have to be willing to accept that.