Beever-Jones takes her chance to prove she is more than an impact player for Chelsea | Suzanne Wrack | OneFootball

Once the smoke from the pyrotechnics cleared and the orange WSL-branded carpet was rolled up, as prolific striker Sam Kerr sat on the bench and club record signing, Alyssa Thompson, in the stands, it was the academy graduate Aggie Beever-Jones who stood by the centre circle ready to lead the line for Chelsea as they kickstarted the new season against Manchester City. That it was the 22-year-old forward who opened Blues’ account on Friday night was fitting. This is home.

For all the hype about Kerr’s return 20 months out from her anterior cruciate ligament injury and the Blues’ late £1.1m swoop to pry Thompson from NWSL side Angel City, it was the lifelong fan who would announce, in style, 30 minutes in, that she is so much more than an impact player, turning in Ellie Carpenter’s tight cross from the right.

Afterwards, manager Sonia Bompastor praised her diversity. “Today she showed that quality, she made some good runs in behind but also she was able to keep the ball under pressure,” she said.

“That’s really good for her and for us because she’s more unpredictable when she’s able to do both.

“For a forward that’s a nice combination. She’s a complete player. With the ball, without the ball, she works hard. She was dictating our press tonight and she did that well.”

It was as the season drew to a close in Emma Hayes’s final campaign, before she departed to take on the head coach role with the US women’s national team, that the former manager draped an arm around young Beever-Jones and pulled her into her on-pitch interview proclaiming the potential of the academy talent. “Aggie Beever-Jones. Don’t forget that name. She’s going to be a legend not just for Chelsea but for England,” Hayes had said, as Chelsea approached a fifth consecutive league title win.

Since then, Beever-Jones has been Ms Reliable for Chelsea, her nine goals last season across 12 starts and 10 appearances off the bench making her Chelsea’s top scorer in 2024-25. She was utilised across the front three by Bompastor, plugging the holes left by the injured Kerr and further injuries to the Mayra Ramírez, Catarina Macario and the now departed Mia Fishel.

By the end of the campaign she was posed in Chelsea blue, clutching three trophies, a domestic treble secured.

Weeks later, a hat-trick against Portugal at Wembley – making her the second Lioness to achieve that feat at the national stadium alongside Beth Mead – all but ensured she would be a part of England’s squad for their European title defence in Switzerland this summer.

She accrued only 74 minutes of football in three appearances off the bench during England’s run to a second major tournament trophy but walked away with a goal, scoring the sixth in the 6-1 defeat of Wales.

Perched on the shoulders of Gracie Prior and Jade Rose, it was Beever-Jones who drew first blood despite the presence of the potent duo Vivianne Miedema and Khadija Shaw in the Manchester City XI. Her chance came and she took it, again.

It was almost two for the dynamic forward on the hour mark, but her final ball after she weaved into the box from the left was sent over the bar.

It was the forward’s final action, coming off in favour of Macario soon after, but it was a bright and effective showing.

Afterwards, Bompastor said she showed she has the mentality and quality to be able to perform in the biggest games. “She’s showing everyone she’s ready and she’s able to perform in a big game,” she said.

“She has the right mentality, she works hard, she’s always listening to the small tweaks we can bring into her game and I think today was a really good day for her.”

Few grab opportunities with both hands as often and emphatically as the young forward, one of few academy graduates to force their way into contention among Chelsea’s star-studded squad following two developmental loan spells, with Bristol City and then Everton.

She showed no sign of stopping her push to give Bompastor a real headache under the lights here. While Macario was quiet after coming on and Kerr stripped to her kit and then re-dressed, not ready to taste action with the game poised at 2-1 after Niamh Charles’s own goal to reduce City’s deficit, it was the player whose blood runs Chelsea blue who demonstrated what putting faith in her potential elicits.

This could be the season she shakes off the ‘potential’, ‘substitute’,’ future talent’ labels and begins to dominate the Chelsea frontline. If they put their faith in her.

Header image: [Photograph: Harriet Lander/Chelsea FC/Getty Images]