The winter transfer window was another successful drama for players of the American national women’s team.
The USWNT defender, Naomi Girma, was the head of the head as a first women’s football player to break the transfer barrier of $ 1 million with its San Diego Wave FC move to Chelsea.
But Girma was not the only major decision among American internationals. The growing talents and household names have changed teams during this window, which is still open for NWSL until March 24.
Which American players have made the best transfers? And what movements asked more questions than answers? Let’s dive.
Naomi Girma (San Diego wave in Chelsea)
Grade: A +
Girma’s move to Chelsea was a significant victory for probably the best central center on the planet and the player that American coach Emma Hayes called “the best defender I have ever seen”.
Girma had asked for a transfer from San Diego in the first half of 2024, confirmed sources previously. The wave had a disastrous year on and off the field. After all the turnover – the Girma release included – they start from zero in 2025.
This reconstruction could be a long and frustrating process and may not have been the ideal place for a central back entirely in the world to develop before what should be its second World Cup in 2027.
Instead, Girma has won a long -term agreement on the champions of the perennial English Chelsea, which seem to take another race for the solidification of their list to capture a European crown. Girma will be exposed to different players and tactics after spending its first three years as a pro in the NWSL, which will help it as well as the USWNT. His salary in Chelsea remains a mystery, but according to all accounts, this decision was also worth financially.
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USWNT’s teammates react to the Naomi Girma Chelsea Move record
Cat Macario and Emily Fox react to the record transfer of his USWNT teammate, Naomi Girma, in Chelsea after the 1-0 victory of the Blues over Arsenal.
Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego at NC courage)
Grade: a-
Shaw is another young talented American international who had asked for a trade in San Diego at the beginning of 2024 and obtained his wish this winter via one of the greatest intra-cork transfer fees never made ($ 450,000 in total, with future conditions). She wanted to specifically go to the courage of Caroline du Nord – and for good reasons.
North Carolina again led the NWSL in several measures of passage and possession last year, and Shaw adapts perfectly to this style. It is a versatile playmaker who is the best as n ° 10 that can turn and play a precise final ball.
Shaw also has a better chance of playing for a competitor, at least in the short term. The courage finished fifth last year and really had no proven scorer, while the wave drink in a 10th place.
The main concern, for lack of a better word, is exactly where and how Shaw will integrate into the North Carolina system. The easy answer is that it should be their n ° 10 – except that Ashley Sanchez already occupies this role and prospered it last season.
Does that mean that Shaw will play like a new fake that combines with Sanchez? Such a configuration is not necessarily ideal, but as Hayes recently said, Shaw “will have an impact on our program in a long time” for a long time, and people should not “pigeon” it to be a type of player at the age of 20.
Lynn Biyendolo (Gotham FC at Seattle Reign)
Grade: B +
San Diego may have had a overhaul, but there was a small-scale exodus of the NJ / NY Gotham FC this off-season, in particular given all the movements made a year before gathering what was nicknamed external as a “super team”. Let’s first look at the Biyendolo movement.
Biyendolo is the top scorer of all time in the NWSL and a player who defined the value of the League for the USWNT. It took years to its domestic success to translate on the international scene, but now it is used to the USWNT and an Olympic gold medalist. Hayes often congratulated Biyndolo for his desire to play any role that is launched, including that of a reserve.
This decision is specifically that which brought him back to the west coast, near his family, while his career approaches his back, and far from Gotham, a place that ultimately “(was not) a good adjustment”.
Biyendolo was a regular who was leaning on Gotham, but she only started 10 regular season games last year for a team that counted on his depth despite his star power.
In Seattle, she will be a focal point at the top, a veteran leader – and a standard winner, with four NWSL titles – for a young team that spent most of last year. It may not be the decision that brings another championship soon, but these regular minutes should be good for her personally while she seeks to consolidate her place in the plans of Hayes.
Grade: B-
The distance from Dunn de Gotham is the most difficult to note. She said in her article goodbye that she was “incredibly sad” to leave Gotham after only a year. As with others who left, the details were rare, but the situation was clearly untenable for the player and the club. She missed the last two months of the 2024 season due to an excused absence before the parties accept each other to terminate her contract in January.
Getting out of the contract by mutual termination was a positive development for Dunn, because it has enabled its flexibility to find a new team without the transfer costs barrier and an existing contract which could have proven to be too expensive for many clubs.
There were potential pretenders of the NWSL, notably Seattle Reign, but Paris Saint-Germain joined the race late and obtained Dunn. PSG is the perennial team n ° 2 in France, and it always offers a chance for European competition, which is positive. The high flight of France is not as deep as the NWSL on a week to week to week to week.
Dunn has also made important geographic and personal sacrifices with this decision. She is from the New York metropolitan region and has family there, making Gotham her hometown team. It could have been a place where she ended her career. Instead, she and her family of three are now on the other side of the Atlantic.
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Krieger: Crystal Dunn “deserves a new chance” after the transfer to PSG
Ali Krieger talks about the free transfer of Crystal Dunn to PSG of Gotham FC.
Grade: B
The move from Nightwong to Arsenal could be the most surprising Gotham developments, but it is the one that could bear fruit for the 24 -year -old when she fights for a place as a trusted Hayes with the USWNT.
Nighswonger started almost all games for Gotham last season, mainly behind. Was it too comfortable there and needed more challenge? Didn’t style suit him? Or was it too good from an opportunity to refuse?
Arsenal will provide an exhibition to new challenges and styles of play, which is good for Nighswonger. How will it adapt to the long-term plans of the Gunners? The American rear Emily Fox and the Republic of Ireland Katie McCabe are established beginners.
Nighswonger is versatile – the rear position is relatively new, in any case, after playing higher on the field at university – and it could find its way in the team of Renée Slegers above on the field. The minutes of gain will be significant in the long term.
Nighswonger seemed to have locked a rear role that started for the USWNT in early 2024, but she played a reserve role at the Olympic Games and there is an increasing competition in the position. She will need first regular team minutes before the 2027 World Cup.
Yazmeen Ryan (Gotham FC in Houston Dash)
Grade: B-
Ryan is a brilliant and promising striker for the USWNT who has so far impressed in the limited international minutes. She took a big bet on her move to Houston Dash – and perhaps a risk.
The dashboard was appalling last year, and their saga of Mia coach was one of the most embarrassing and bizarre fiascos in the history of the league. There is a new coach and president (fulfilling the old GM role) now in place – Fabrice Gautrat and Angela Hucles Mangano, respectively – and the sale of sale in Houston is that they start from a clean slate. Gautrat is the seventh coach in charge since April 2022.
This slate includes several new acquisitions, at the head of Ryan and the $ 400,000 in allocation money paid to Gotham for her, one of the greatest intra-cork transfers in the history of the NWSL.
Without a doubt, Ryan is a coup from the point of view of the dashboard. Houston will count on Ryan to carry score, which should give him many opportunities to impress Hayes. There are objective risks to make long -term commitments in Houston, however – in particular for a player who is starting to get more looks with the national team.
The good news is that Ryan is both talented and adaptable. She was quietly an important part of the Portland Thorns championship team in 2022, then played a key role in the winning team of the Gotham title the following year. She did not miss a beat with this profession, and she hopes to do the same in early 2025.
