Sam Kerr to Leave Chelsea This Summer

Sam Kerr, Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer in the Women's Super League, will depart the club this summer when her contract expires, ending a six-and-a-half-year tenure with the London side.

The 32-year-old Australian striker has netted 64 WSL goals for Chelsea and 115 in all competitions across her time there. She enters her final match Saturday against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge one goal shy of equaling Fran Kirby's club record of 116. Kerr joined in late 2019 in what was then the biggest transfer by an English club for a women's player, arriving as a global star who had set scoring records in prior leagues.

During her spell, Kerr helped Chelsea secure five WSL titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and one Community Shield. She claimed the WSL Golden Boot in her first two full seasons, 2021 and 2022, finished runner-up in the 2023 Ballon d'Or and earned the Football Writers' Association women's footballer of the year award in 2022 and 2023. A serious anterior cruciate ligament injury in January 2024 sidelined her for 20 months, but she returned last September and has scored 16 goals in 29 appearances this season, including a recent milestone strike against...