Defensive midfielder’s second Chelsea spell comes to an end

Defensive midfielder Anita Asante has left Chelsea for the second time in her career according to reports on The Blues’ official website.

The 35-year-old former England international has represented the South West Londoners between 2008 and 2009 and from 2018 to present day.

It has today been reported that Asante’s current contract at Kingsmeadow has come to an end and the player has now left Chelsea. Given the player’s age and recent bad luck with injuries, retirement could now be an option, although Asante has not yet commented on her immediate future.

Since rejoining The Blues in January 2018, the midfielder has made 35 appearances for the current Barclays FA Women’s Super League champions, however, Asante’s involvement has cruelly been prematurely ended by injury in each of the last two seasons. The veteran has suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury and a quadriceps tendon tear in her second stint as a Chelsea player.

Asante spent her early career with Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal before swapping red for blue in 2008. A spell playing her football in the United States followed before the midfielder enjoyed five years in Sweden.

Despite plenty of movement throughout her career, Chelsea could be seen as Asante’s home. If the player is to call time on her career, ending her playing days as a Blue may have acted as the perfect finale.

Daniel Pentland

I am the editor and owner of FAWSL Full-Time magazine. I have been reporting on men’s and women’s football at various levels since summer 2015. Some of the events which I have reported from include the 2017 UEFA Women’s European Championship, 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, SSE Women’s FA Cup final, Emirates FA Cup final, UEFA Europa League, English Football League and various international matches.

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