Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has said the addition of US Women's National defender Naomi Girma will help bring even more quality to her squad.
The 24-year-old graced Stamford Bridge on Sunday by confirming her Blues future after weeks of speculation. Chelsea reportedly paid a record transfer fee of $1.1m (Ā£890,000). to force her to commit to a four-and-a-half-year deal, seeing her leave the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) San Diego Wave side.
As well as the arrival of a new signing, Chelsea1-0 victory over Arsenal saw them take an even bigger lead in the Women's Super League ranking (WSL). They are now seven points clear at the top, behind Manchester United as they continue their fight to win a sixth straight league title.
LONDON IS BLUE!! šµ#CFCW pic.twitter.com/4RStXqeOzT
ā Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) January 26, 2025
Speaking after the match, Bompastor expressed her thoughts on how Girma is likely to strengthen her team even more.
“She's a really talented player,” she said. “She will bring a lot of quality to the team, even if the team is already talented. I think having Naomi (Girma) in the team will bring even more options for me; to be able to play with three, four defenders, different systems, so I think it's good news today for all Chelsea fans.
“I think Naomi (Girma) is a defender who is really comfortable on the ball in position. She will bring a lot of confidence to the team. She is able to have a big impact because she is comfortable passing the ball, the short shot, the shot She is also able to drive the ball and create some adjustments.
“She has a lot of speed, so she's able to play very high up the court and recover the ball with space behind her. That's going to make a big impact for our team.”
POV: You've just signed one of the best defenders in the world. š pic.twitter.com/bIZo1pOXp6
ā Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) January 27, 2025
Despite eventually walking away with the win, Bompastor went on to praise Arsenal for their tenacious effort and ability to put Chelsea on the back foot.
“It's a very fine line between us and Arsenal,” she said. “It went our way, which I'm very pleased about, but if you analyze the performance then it was a really difficult game. We didn't control everything in the game, but we were able to score the goal that got us a big result.”