In another world, Chloe Kelly would have relished playing in the seven-goal thriller between Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday. The Women’s Super League match had bite, and plenty of twists and turns — perfect for a winger who plays, according to one of her former coaches, with fire.

But the 27-year-old was not involved. The terms of her last-minute loan from City to Arsenal on deadline day last week prevented her from featuring against her parent club. The same goes for Thursday’s League Cup semi-final between the clubs.

Even if Kelly had not moved to Arsenal, it would have been very unlikely for her to have had a major role in the weekend’s match, given her significant decrease in game time this season under City manager Gareth Taylor.

In December, a meeting took place to try to remedy the relationship between Taylor and Kelly, according to a source close to the player who, like all cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships.

City’s director of football Therese Sjogran and managing director Charlotte O’Neill were also present. Kelly was told to keep working hard. She then attended the squad’s winter training camp in Abu Dhabi last month, and Taylor said she “looked really sharp, fresh, (with) renewed energy and optimism for this period”.

Kelly started and assisted a Vivianne Miedema goal in a 3-0 win against Ipswich in the FA Cup fourth round on January 12. “She knows she has to contribute and today she contributed,” Taylor said after that game. “That sets her up really nicely for the next few games.”

Those comments hinted perhaps at more game time for Kelly. However, when City signed Kerolin, a Brazil international winger and former MVP (Most Valuable Player) award winner in the NWSL, the top women’s league in the United States, 10 days after the Ipswich match, it was clear the England international had instead dropped down the pecking order, further impacting her hopes of seeing significant action for the club.

If she was not going to be playing at City, Kelly needed to look elsewhere. For the next six months, leading up to this summer’s European Championship, where England will be defending their title, her priority is game time. She wants to have the best chance of making the England squad and maintaining her value, given this summer will also see her City contract expire. She wanted to play for a top-three side and to hit the ground running.

Before the women’s game’s winter-window transfer deadline day on Thursday, City received, what they deemed one suitable loan offer, from Brighton, and they accepted it.

Although impressed with Brighton and their style of football, according to a source close to Kelly, she felt it was a risky move given she would be entering more of an unfamiliar environment by moving outside the WSL’s top three, especially with her contract due to expire.

Kelly’s preference was Manchester United, currently second in the WSL, but fourth-placed City would not name a price to their neighbours and local rival. They rejected two bids from United before deadline day. According to a City source, these fell well below the level the club could accept. One of the offers failed to cover Kelly’s wages and the other would only do so at the end of the season. The player was willing to sacrifice her salary to secure a move.

Then on Wednesday, 24 hours before the transfer window shut, Kelly wrote on social media that she accepted her future would not be at City beyond the expiration of her contract. She was resigned to the fact she was not going to leave in January.

“To be dictated to whom I can and can’t join with only four months left of the football season is having a huge impact on not only my career but my mental wellbeing,” Kelly said. “The situation has dragged on for too long; it’s disappointing and not right.” She added she just wanted to “be happy again”.

The statement garnered a lot of support from fellow players, both at City and across the WSL.

The following day, Arsenal, who dealt with City during this transfer window regarding a separate deal for Laura Wienroither, swooped. Kelly was on their wish list, according to head coach Renee Slegers, and they made a late offer on improved terms compared to Brighton’s bid. City accepted Arsenal’s offer, which included a loan fee and the Londoners paying 100 per cent of Kelly’s wages.

United also made a third offer on deadline day but, according to a City source, it fell far short of Arsenal’s one and was rejected. According to those close to Kelly, however, wages were not an issue regardless of the club involved. United worked hard to bring her in and made what they considered a very good bid, and believed all their offers to City were competitive.

Crucially, Kelly’s existing City salary was negotiated before her final-winning heroics at Euro 2022, and the women’s game has evolved hugely over the past three years.

United’s admiration for the winger and efforts during negotiations has not gone unnoticed and they are expected to revisit the situation when she is a free agent in the summer.

Kelly agreed to join Arsenal, a familiar environment considering she was raised in London, joined their youth academy aged 12 in 2010 and made 19 appearances for their first team between 2015 and 2018. The deal reunites her with former Arsenal team-mates Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Beth Mead. “They made the best offer,” said Taylor in his pre-match press conference on Friday. “We’re certainly not standing in the way of a player able to go and make a move they want to make.”

Taylor was not concerned that City were strengthening direct rivals, although Sunday’s WSL results mean United are second behind Chelsea, three points clear of Arsenal and five ahead of City. “We run this as a tight ship, as a business,” he said.

At the same time the move was confirmed at 11pm on Thursday, Kelly released another statement accusing City of trying to “assassinate (her) character”.

“So disappointed to find out tonight that people at the club are briefing journalists against me if I am to sign at a club before the window shuts,” she wrote on Instagram. “They’ve called reporters to assassinate my character and tried to plant negative stories about me in the football media. Of which is false accusations. Women should look after each other, and build each other up… not shoot them down to protect their employers. To those responsible, I am disappointed in this.”

According to a source close to the player, this was aimed at a particular City employee and Kelly released a statement to anticipate what she deemed to be a misrepresentation.

Taylor said it was “really disappointing” the situation had come to this during his pre-Arsenal media session the following day.

“I’ve always tried to represent the club in the right way, to be really dignified, even in difficult moments. I certainly work for a club that has real integrity,” he said. “It’s been a challenging couple of days for many people, not just myself, a lot of people here at the club as well.

“We never like to hear that a player hasn’t had a good experience of being at the club. I’m sure that’s not been the case for the whole period (Kelly joined City from Everton in summer 2020). Maybe this more recent period, from not playing. But we try to support every single player that we work with in order to help the team. We’re in a selection-based business, where difficult decisions have to be made for the betterment of the team and sometimes people and players can fall on the sharp end of that.”

London-born Kelly has returned to her roots down south for now.

She met Arsenal’s club dog, Win, at their training ground and went through a medical and her media duties. Kelly was not watching at the Joie Stadium as the two sides met on Sunday, but Slegers, who spoke to her on Thursday, said after Arsenal’s win that she is fit and has trained since the transfer. Although the England international cannot feature in the League Cup semi-final against City this week, she could play in the final if Arsenal go through.

Kelly also cannot play in the FA Cup, because she has already featured for City in that competition this season. That rules her out of Arsenal’s fifth-round tie against London City Lionesses on Sunday.

So her first possible game is the north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, February 16. That means England manager Sarina Wiegman will not see her play for Arsenal before selecting her squad for two Nations League matches at the end of this month — away to Portugal and a Wembley rematch of the 2023 World Cup final against Spain.

Kelly will have to fight for her place at Arsenal too, with Mariona Caldentey, who plays more centrally, Caitlin Foord, who is closer to returning from a minor muscle injury, and Mead all competing for minutes.

She has got her move, now it is time for Kelly to prove she can bounce back.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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