Chelsea prepared for their opening fixture of the new Women’s Super League (WSL) season by announcing the acquisition of Alyssa Thompson for a new club-record fee.

The U.S. Women’s national team (USWNT) star is the latest arrival in a summer dominated by big money signings. On the same day Thompson was unveiled, London City Lionesses made Grace Geyoro the most expensive signing in women’s football history with a deal thought to be worth £1.43 million ($1.92 million), while Arsenal paid £1 million to whisk Olivia Smith away from Liverpool in July.

Thompson is expected to cost just less than that seven-digit sum before add-ons are included. BBC Sport are one of many sources which describe the deal as the biggest in Chelsea’s history, surpassing the £900,000 spent on Naomi Girma in January.

Angel City, the NWSL side which paid £335,000 to have the first draft pick in 2023 which they used to select Thompson straight out of high school, hailed the agreement as “one of the highest transactions in global women’s soccer.”

Leaving her local club in Los Angeles represents a sizeable upheaval for the 20-year-old. “I love LA,” Thompson told Chelsea’s official website. “I love playing there. I love being with my sister. I love my family. But what I also know is that I want more for myself, and I want to experience different things. I feel like Chelsea is such an amazing club.

“It was definitely a difficult decision to make to leave my family, my friends, and my home,” she continued. “I’ve never left home before, but once I heard about the offer, I really wanted to do it. I knew it would be so good for me. I felt like I’d be able to grow not just as a player, but also as a person.

“I decided now was the right time because I felt in my gut that I wanted to go, and I’ve never felt like that before about other hard decisions that I’ve made in the past.”

Thompson has signed a five-year contract stretching until 2030. The jet-heeled winger will watch her new teammates begin the defence of their league title at home to Manchester City on Friday evening at Stamford Bridge.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alyssa Thompson: USWNT Star Completes Record-Breaking Move to Chelsea.