Sam Kerr set to leave Chelsea in major WSL transfer bombshell | OneFootball

Sam Kerr will leave Chelsea at the end of the 2025-26 season when her contract expires, according to Sky Sports.

The Australia forward is set to bring a six-and-a-half-year spell in west London to a close, with Saturday’s 1pm game against Manchester United expected to be her final appearance for the club.

Kerr leaves with numbers that barely need dressing up: 115 goals in 157 matches for Chelsea, five WSL titles and a place as the league’s all-time leading scorer. She also heads into that final match one goal behind Fran Kirby’s overall Chelsea record, having recently hit another milestone by becoming the club’s outright WSL top scorer, as covered when Kerr closed in on Kirby’s record.

Her return from a serious knee injury has made the timing feel even bigger. Kerr missed around 20 months, including the 2024 Olympics with Australia, before returning in September 2025 and scoring 16 times in 29 appearances this season, according to BBC Sport.

What comes next is less settled. Reports in Goal say Kerr had attracted interest from the NWSL, with Denver Summit FC among the clubs linked, while teams in the US and Europe are also said to be monitoring the situation.

Those reports add that Chelsea were only prepared to offer a one-year extension, with Kerr understood to want clarity over her next move after her contract runs down. No destination has yet been confirmed.

Sam Kerr’s departure and what it means for Chelsea

Chelsea have already been moving into a new phase, with Emma Hayes gone, Sonia Bompastor now leading the side and other established figures from that era also departing. Kerr’s exit is the clearest sign yet that the next Chelsea team will not simply be a continuation of the last one.

That matters on and off the pitch. Kerr has been central to Chelsea’s trophy haul, but also to the club’s identity during its dominant years, at a time when the wider project has been growing too, including plans around Chelsea’s future at Stamford Bridge.

It also sharpens the focus on the striker market. Bunny Shaw is another elite forward whose future is under the spotlight, with Chelsea among the clubs linked after her expected City departure, in a story that could become one of the summer’s defining WSL moves, as seen in this latest Bunny Shaw transfer update.

Sam Kerr: “I just feel happy”

“When I reflect on my Chelsea career and doing it for the last time [against Manchester United this Saturday], I just feel happy,” Kerr said.

“Happy that it happened, and I feel so grateful to have played for this club for six years and won as many trophies as we could.”

Kerr’s immediate focus is now on that final Chelsea game against United. Her next club is expected to become clearer once the summer transfer window opens.