Sam Kerr set for Chelsea exit after reportedly signing with US club Denver Summit | OneFootball

Matildas captain Sam Kerr will reportedly leave Chelsea at the end of the Women’s Super League season to return to the United States and join expansion club Denver Summit.

Kerr’s future at Chelsea has come into doubt in recent weeks with the striker’s contract set to expire at the end of the season and with little talk of a new deal.

Network 10 in Australia reported that Kerr has signed with the new Colorado-based club after six seasons with Chelsea, where the 32-year-old has won the Women’s Super League title five times as well as three FA Cups.

Kerr’s signing would be a huge coup for the ambitious new club that only played its first match last month, as well as the US National Women’s Soccer League where the Australian remains the all-time leading goalscorer.

But Kerr was quick to refute the report in a post on Snapchat saying: “Don’t believe everything you read in the media man, they know a decision before me.”

Chelsea then retweeted her response through its official X channel.

Kerr’s future has been up in the air at Chelsea as she has played a reduced role under coach Sonia Bompastor since her return from a long absence due to an ACL injury.

The forward has made her way back to full fitness slowly this season, with many cameos off the bench, but showed signs of being back to her best while leading Australia to the final of the Women’s Asian Cup where the tournament hosts lost to Japan.

Kerr has scored 110 goals in 153 matches for Chelsea since joining the club in 2019.

Chelsea’s quarter-finals exit from the Champions League on Wednesday night, at the hands of local rivals Arsenal, now looks like being Kerr’s last chance at winning women’s football’s biggest club prize.

A move to the US would mark a triumphant return for the striker who first announced herself as an international force during stints with NWSL clubs Western New York Flash, Sky Blue FC and Chicago Red Stars before her move to England.

Kerr has an American wife, former US international Kristie Mewis, and her signing would be a boon for Denver Summit, which have US ski star Mikaela Shiffrin and NFL great Peyton Manning among their owners.

The expansion club’s potential was outlined spectacularly at Mile High Stadium on Saturday when their 0-0 draw against Washington Spirit was watched by 63,004 fans, more than 20,000 above the previous NWSL attendance record.

Amid the speculation, Kerr will captain the Matildas in a pair of international friendlies in Kenya later this month, after being named by coach Joe Montemurro in a near full-strength 22-player squad.

Header image: [Photograph: John Walton/PA]