Emma Hayes has revealed how Chelsea superstar Sam Kerr suffered the ACL injury that has brought her 2023-24 WSL season to a close.

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  • Australian forward set to undergo surgery
  • Will be out of action for several months
  • Blues looking to land trophies without her

  • WHAT HAPPENED?

    The Australia international picked up an unfortunate knock during the Blues’ winter training camp in Morocco. She is not expected to figure again in the current campaign, with a long road to recovery being mapped out in front of the 30-year-old forward – who has become the latest prominent figure in the women’s game to damage knee ligaments.

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    WHAT HAYES SAID ABOUT KERR

    Chelsea boss Hayes has told of how Kerr was laid low: “Doing a football action she does every day – turning and shooting. Something every simple and innocuous. This is not the moment to talk about how those things happen. Injuries do happen in football – they happen in men’s and women’s football. Sometimes we have a confirmation bias around ACL injuries, but they happen in the sport regardless of why they happen.”

    Hayes added, with Kerr preparing to go under the knife: “She’s having surgery today. Gutted for her, gutted for the team. These things happen in football. She knows that. I think the important thing is we are here to support her, the recovery, the rehab begins today.”

  • THE BIGGER PICTURE

    Kerr will be a big miss for Chelsea, as they seek to defend their WSL title, but Hayes said of the need to move on as a collective: “I know Sam would expect me to say nothing less. Our focus has to be on the players that are fit. We have a quality squad and it's a good challenge for me as a coach to find those solutions. I trust in the squad we have and we have added to that as well. The focus and the attention has to go on the players that are here.”

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    WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?

    Chelsea sit top of the WSL standings for now, ahead of a return to action on January 14 against West Ham in the FA Women’s Cup, with Hayes taking in a long goodbye as she prepares to take the USWNT reins in the summer of 2024.