by Bethany Monkhouse (3/1/25)
Above: Chloe Kelly (leaping highest) celebrates after scoring for Manchester City against Paris FC in the Champions League qualifiers earlier this season. Photo: Chloe Kelly Instagram.
England and Manchester City forward Chloe Kelly has had a rough start to the 2024/25 WSL season, having only started one out of the ten league games so far, and suffering with the consequences of concussion.
With four further matches seeing her listed as a substitute and her contract up in the summer, questions are being asked as to whether City may cash in now by letting her move for a fee now rather than potentially ending up losing her on a free transfer in the summer.
Back in October, the Daily Mail reported a breakdown in the relationship between the Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor and the player who scored the winner in the Lionesses’ European Championship triumph.
It is understood that the English forward wants to stay at the club however the two parties are not close to an extension agreement. Instead of playing Kelly, Taylor is choosing to play younger and less experienced players, such as Academy star Lily Murphy, who only signed a professional contract a few weeks ago.
With Euro 2025 ahead this summer, Kelly will need to maximise minutes on the field. At present, Sarina Wiegman is still calling her up to the England squad and in a press conference has stated “she isn’t in doubt for us to bring her into the squad.” But that’s not something that can be taken for granted if another player getting regular starts for her club starts hitting goals in week after week.
Kelly leaving Manchester City seems a proposition that can only cause harm to the squad and their hopes of silverware this season. With Lauren Hemp, Vivianne Miedema, and Khadija (Bunny) Shaw all injured, Taylor may now be more inclined to make sure the English forward stays.
However, another option for City would be to bring in more forwards during this transfer window, or for an emergency loan call back for 19-year-old attacker, Poppy Pritchard, who played a vital role for the Young Lionesses in the U19 European Championships last year.
With the women’s game being increasingly about the strength in depth of squads, it seems crazy to even consider Taylor letting Kelly go. After a gut-wrenching end to the 2023/24 season when City missed out on the WSL title on goal difference in the last game of the campaign, one of the key things that transpired they needed to look at was building a larger pool of players with strength in all positions.
Chloe Kelly can be an influential game-changing player when given the opportunity, however, City doesn’t seem willing to give her that chance at present.
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