The Blues' boss will hope to go out on a high before taking over the USWNT, but those ambitions have hit a serious setback with the striker's injury
Chelsea haven’t had to think about life without Sam Kerr much since she arrived in England. Their Australian superstar has been almost ever-present throughout the past four years, playing in all but 16 of the Blues’ 144 competitive fixtures in that time, scoring 99 goals and winning 10 trophies. But Sunday’s devastating injury news means the rest of the season has quite a different outlook.
Kerr won’t feature for her club again this campaign – and possibly even beyond, with her contract up in a few months’ time – after the announcement that she has ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It is catastrophic news for a player at the very top of her game, it’s an incredible blow to an Australia side hoping to win an Olympic medal later this year, and it is a serious setback for a Chelsea team competing on four fronts.
With Emma Hayes set to leave the club at the end of the season, to become the new head coach of the United States women’s national team, fans and neutrals alike were hopeful of a fairy-tale ending, that she could claim the Women’s Champions League trophy that has long eluded her and the club despite such an illustrious era.
But without the talismanic Kerr, the Blues’ main source of goals and perhaps their very best player, how do Chelsea go about making Hayes’ ‘Last Dance’ a success?
GettyThe ultimate blow
There’s no doubt that Chelsea have one of the strongest squads in the women’s game. After all, they’re top of the WSL table as the second half of the season begins despite being without captain Millie Bright and star winger Guro Reiten for significant periods, while Fran Kirby still builds her way back to her best.
But to cover for Kerr’s absence is going to be a new challenge altogether. We’re talking about a world-class forward, the type that can win a game for her team almost single-handedly, and Chelsea’s most reliable source of goals. The Blues might have players who can fit into the No.9 role in her absence, but none are of the calibre of Kerr. In truth, very few players on the planet are.
And that’s before we even get to Kerr as a person. Her winning mentality, her bubbly personality and leadership are all to be missing on the pitch for Chelsea for the foreseeable. It’s hard to put into words just how big a blow this is.
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This news is more than just the fact Kerr will miss the rest of Chelsea’s season, too. There is a genuine possibility that we’ve seen her in the club’s colours for the final time, with her contract in London set to expire at the end of the campaign. News that Kristie Mewis, the USWNT star who is also Kerr’s fiancée, has signed a deal with West Ham reported to be 18 months in length has given Chelsea fans hope that their star striker will be extending her own stay in the capital, but until there is a contract signed then everything is speculation.
It would be a cruel way for this chapter of her career to end; for her time under Hayes to end; for her time alongside players such as Kirby and Reiten, whom she has formed such wonderful connections with, to end.
There is also the international side of this and that is just as big. This injury all-but-ends Kerr’s chances of participating in the Olympic women’s football tournament in France this summer, which is an incredible disappointment for her and the Matildas. Australia were so close to claiming a medal at the Games in Japan in 2021, but fell just short in the bronze-medal match, losing a thriller with the U.S. by a 4-3 scoreline.
The 30-year-old missed most of the Matildas’ home World Cup last year and they still reached the semi-finals, which was a positive for a team that has sometimes over-relied on their superstar striker, but she was still there in the squad, having an influence around the camp. That will not be the case in France, and head coach Tony Gustavsson will have to not only find a way to play without Kerr in the build-up to the tournament, he’ll also have to ensure he picks a squad capable of coping with her absence after drawing criticism for the under-use of several players last year.
GettyFilling big shoes
Refocusing on the short-term, let’s take a look at the replacements for Kerr in the Chelsea squad right now. First up is Mia Fishel, who Hayes recruited in the summer as a back-up for the Aussie. Those were Fishel’s exact words, even, in an interview with the ahead of this season. “[Kerr] had to play a lot of minutes and she didn’t have another person to come in when she needed it,” Fishel said. “For the team to be better, I needed to come in to help Sam Kerr when she doesn’t need to be in the game. That [means] a big role.”
But it’s one thing to come in for a game or two, for 20 minutes off the bench when Kerr needs a rest, and another thing altogether to start week in, week out as the No.9 for a team with ambitions of winning four trophies. Fishel is a really exciting prospect and she’s shown fantastic glimpses of what she can do at the top level in the last few months. But she is still only 22 years old and in just her first season at a club like Chelsea.
In a similar position is Aggie Beever-Jones, another youngster who has done great things as a rotational player this season. The 20-year-old academy product has five goals in seven WSL appearances, and though often seen as a winger, she can play through the middle, too, and is another option for cover.
Meanwhile, Catarina Macario seems to be nearing a return from injury. Signed from Lyon last summer while still recovering from her own ACL rupture, the USWNT star is a generational talent and can play in a number of different roles, including as a No.9. But we’re talking about a player who hasn’t kicked a ball for over 18 months. Regardless of her talent, it’d be ridiculous to put the pressure on Macario to fill Kerr’s boots right away.
GettyThe difficult January window
So, with there reasons why each of the centre-forward options at the club are not ready to absorb all of Kerr’s goal-scoring burden, do Chelsea need to dip into the January transfer window? One would think they’d certainly take a look – but it’s well-known that the winter window can be a horrible one to work in.
Chelsea have little-to-no chance of picking up a world-class No.9 mid-season, as players of such calibre just aren’t available this time of year, unless an unlikely opportunity presents itself in the U.S. market, for example.
It’s worth noting that Chelsea do not do much knee-jerk business, either. While they might want someone to help fill the boots of Kerr, they’re a club that so often plans for the long-term, and so they would likely need to find a player that fits their vision for the future, not just for the next six months.
Instead, it’s much more likely that they bring in a forward who, like Fishel and Beever-Jones, can share some of the goal-scoring while also presenting long-term value and the potential to develop into a top-level player over time. But, again, that’s if they find a profile that they like for a deal they believe is worthwhile in this short window.