Chelsea and England defender's star is rising after X-rated Emma Hayes rant

In Chelsea's fly-on-the-wall docuseries, 'One Team, One Dream', there is a particularly illuminative exchange between Emma Hayes and defender Jess Carter.

"You do want to play for your country?" the Blues boss queries after hauling the centre-back in for a meeting at the club's Cobham training ground. "I do, but not now," Carter replies somewhat sheepishly, before going on to explain she is not yet ready to revisit that particular frontier.

"What are you waiting for?" Hayes demands, seemingly perplexed by her young charge's reluctance to target international acclaim. “I want you to show every f***ing day that you give a f*** about yourself. It’s up to you to decide your future.”

Five years on and it is easy to view that admonitory pep talk as the turning point: the moment that truly ignited Carter's career and inspired her to turn her immense potential into sustained success. In truth, the 26-year-old's journey to the apex of women's football stardom has not been entirely linear.

Hers is a path that has been punctuated with fits and starts but, after enjoying a stellar 12 months for both club and country, it appears she has finally adhered to Hayes' words of warning. The defender started both of England's recent EURO 2025 qualifiers against France at left-back and performed admirably up against one of Europe's most capable front lines.

Even after the Lionesses succumbed to a narrow defeat in the first leg of the decisive double-header, England manager Sarina Wiegman praised Carter's excellent one-v-one defending. And she took her game to the next level in the reverse fixture in Saint-Etienne, helping limit the French to just two shots on target - one of which came from the penalty spot - as the Lionesses secured a victory that keeps their hopes of automatic qualification for next summer's Euros alive.

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No one won more tackles at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard than Carter's five, while only France left-back Selma Bacha regained possession more often. With several England stars, including Arsenal forward Alessia Russo, having turned in eye-catching displays against Herve Renard's side, it was easy for her brilliance to go under the radar during the initial post-match post-mortem.

But the defender's contribution was irrefutably one of the key ingredients to the Lionesses' success against the French, offering further proof of her ever-evolving importance for both club and country. It is a fact that would have seemed almost inconceivable five summers ago, when Hayes dished out some home truths after Carter's turbulent start to life at Kingsmeadow.

Looking back, one can deduce that the former Chelsea boss' frustration was primarily born from a resolute belief in the defender's abilities. Carter's gifts were plain for all to see during her time at Birmingham City, where she made her senior debut at only 16 years old.

In that game - a Champions League quarter-final win over Arsenal in 2014 - Carter won the player of the match award and her star only continued to rise in the years that followed. She was named the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year in 2017 and made her senior England debut that same year in a 5-0 victory over Kazakhstan.

There were high expectations, then, when the defender secured a move to Women's Super League (WSL) champions Chelsea in the summer of 2018. But, after a debut campaign that raised question marks over both her fitness and work rate, Hayes gave Carter an ultimatum.

“I paid a lot of money for you,” she said. "If you don’t improve, I’m selling you.” It was a harsh rebuke but one that perhaps gave the Warwick-native some extra fire in her belly.

She was put on a personalised nutrition plan and challenged to become both mentally and physically stronger. Over the past few seasons, that tough love has paid dividends, with Carter's increasing influence at Chelsea earning her a second international cap - almost four years after her first - in 2021.

She was a member of England's supporting cast at EURO 2022, making one appearance off the bench in a 5-0 group stage win over Northern Ireland. But it was an injury to Lionesses captain Leah Williamson in April 2023 that presented Carter with the opportunity to really stake her claim for a starting spot in the team.

The 26-year-old was one of the standout performers at last summer's Women's World Cup and since the start of that tournament she has featured in 16 of England's 19 games, starting 12 of them. And her growing stature within Wiegman's side is reflective of her importance at club level.

She featured in all but one of Chelsea's WSL games in 2023/24 as the Blues clinched their fifth consecutive WSL title. When Hayes' side secured a famous first-leg win against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League back in April, Carter was named player of the match and she ended the campaign as Chelsea's Players' Player of the Season.

“There’s always been a little bit of a tougher love towards me for whatever reason," the defender told the Guardian earlier this year. "But part of that has helped me and helped my game to improve. I’m still here and I’m happy to have grown in football on club and international level and come out of the other side of it.”

It is that mental resilience and introspective outlook that has helped shape Carter's career to date. She has battled through plenty of adversity and, now she is firmly on the other side, her future for both Chelsea and England looks very bright indeed.