It only took until the last day, but Emma Hayes and Chelsea Women got the outgoing they needed to get done completed. Before the 2022/2023 Women’s Super League campaign last year, five players moved away from west London for further development. It has almost doubled this time around. Four players at this moment in time will be contributing on clubs outside England. Five others will be a part of an English outfit with two taking their talents to a WSL team.
With the window shut until January, the west Londoners have young talent across not only England but Europe as a whole. The focus on leaders of the future has not only been a part of the men’s team strategy, but the women’s side as well. Though numerous players will not make it in west London, these opportunities provide budding stars a chance to prove they deserve a spot. Aggie Beever-Jones was a difference-maker during moments at Everton. Her reward, a potential rotational role within the four-time English champions.
Let’s take a look at each loanee as some have already begun their journeys away from Kingsmeadow.
2023/2024 Chelsea Women loan army members outside England
Alsu Abdullina
Club: Paris FC
It may be early in the campaign, but the Russian defender has already given every Chelsea fan something to smile about donning the Paris FC colors. Even though the traditional wing back did not appear in her team’s win over Kryvbas, Abdullina helped Sandrine Soubeyrand’s side to a penalty shoot-out triumph over the west Londoners’ biggest rivals, Arsenal.
The 22-year-old came on at the 81′, playing a part in the end of regulation and all of extra time before watching her team finish off the Gunners via a penalty shoot-out. Jonas Eidevall’s team may have snatched up Kyra Cooney-Cross on deadline day, but will be missing out on the Champions League thanks to Abdullina and her teammates in Paris. Her first league contest in France is on Saturday afternoon against Lille OSC, a recently promoted club who lost just three games in the French second division in 2022/2023.
The wing back’s performances at the international level in addition to her occasional outing in blue justify more playing time. A season with a quality Division 1 Féminine side seems like the perfect fit as she aims to carve herself out a role in England.