After much speculation, Chelsea have today confirmed via their official club website the signing of Danish international Pernille Harder from VfL Wolfsburg.
Harder had been heavily linked with the Barclays FA Women’s Super League champions and it was made official today.
She had an illustrious spell with the German champions, scoring 103 goals in 113 appearances and winning four consecutive FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga and DFB-Frauen Pokal doubles. Harder has also been a UEFA Women’s Champions League runner-up twice and she was named UEFA Player of the Year in 2018.
The 27-year-old, who can play either up front or in attacking midfield, is Chelsea manager Emma Hayes’ fifth signing of the summer as she looks to compete in all five competitions in the coming season. The Blues already secured the league and the FA Women’s Continental League Cup last season and they will now be looking to add to their trophy cabinet by retaining their current titles, winning both Women’s FA Cup competitions and even conquering Europe.
After being unveiled at Chelsea, Harder told the club’s official media sources “I’m extremely happy and extremely excited to get started, to finally be here and be a Chelsea player. I couldn’t be more happy.
“I’m excited to just play for such a big club, to play with so many amazing players and to also be playing in the league. The English league, it’s so exciting at the moment and I’m really looking forward to it.”
The Dane has signed a three-year contract and will be sporting the number 23 as she runs out for Chelsea this season. Blues boss Hayes has been focused on European dominance with Chelsea to an almost obsessive degree, but having won everything domestically it’s hard to blame her.
Chelsea already boast incredible firepower in the likes of Sam Kerr and Beth England, adding Harder to the mix will strike further fear in defences across both the Barclays FA Women’s Super League and Europe. On top of this, they have also acquired Canadian prodigy Jesse Fleming in their already stacked roster. The only question that remains is how Hayes will be able to give all of these world class players enough minutes, but there are far worse problems to have.
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