Sonia Bompastor: Naomi Girma will have 'real impact' on Chelsea | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor has said the addition of U.S. women's national team defender Naomi Girma will help bring even more quality to her squad.

The 24-year-old graced Stamford Bridge on Sunday confirming her future as a Blue, following weeks of speculation. Chelsea are said to have paid a record $1.1m (£890,000) transfer fee to get her to commit to a four-and-a-half year deal, seeing her move away from National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) side San Diego Wave.

As well as the arrival of a new signing, Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Arsenal saw them take an even greater lead in the Women's Super League (WSL) standings. They now sit seven points clear at the top, trailed by Manchester United as they continue their fight to win a six consecutive league title.

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 lot of quality to the squad, even if the squad is already talented. I think having Naomi [Girma] joining the team will bring even more options for me; being able to play back three, back four, different systems, so I think it's good. It's great news today for all the Chelsea fans.

"I think Naomi [Girma] is a defender who is really comfortable with the ball in position. She will bring a lot of confidence to the team. She's able to have a big impact because she's comfortable on passing the ball, kicking short, kicking long. She's also able to drive the ball and create some adaptation.

"She has a lot of speed, so she's able to play really high on the pitch and recover the ball with the space behind the back. It will bring a big impact to our team."

Despite eventually walking away with the win, Bompastor went on to praise Arsenal for their persistent effort and ability to put Chelsea on the back foot.

"It's a really fine line between Arsenal and us," she said. "It went our way, which I'm really pleased with, but if you analyse the performance then it was a really tough game. We didn't control everything in the game, but we were able to score the goal that brought us a great result."