Shortly after Naomi Girma’s first links to Chelsea appeared, a video from the match between the United States and England resurfaced.

Following the final whistle of a scoreless draw at Wembley Stadium last November, cameras caught Chelsea defenders Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze wrapping Girma up in hugs, Bright prodding playfully at the U.S. badge on Girma’s jersey, covering her mouth as she talked.

Months later, while officially wearing Chelsea blue, Girma laughed when shown the video, admitting the two had been asking if she was coming to London. Calling the moment intriguing or even an inflection point is a bit of a reach, but it helped rev up speculation over Girma’s future in the NWSL and her eventual destination in the transfer window.

However, her journey to a record-breaking $1.1million (£890,000) transfer started nearly a year earlier when Girma requested to go on loan from the San Diego Wave in January 2024. She was ready for Europe.

Girma joined the NWSL as the No. 1 draft pick in the 2022 entry draft, selected by the expansion team in San Diego ahead of their inaugural season. Most NWSL expansion teams don’t immediately make a significant play for the postseason, but the Wave finished in third place that first year and Girma was voted both the league rookie of the year and defender of the year. She would go back-to-back as the league’s top defender in 2023 when the Wave won the NWSL shield as the top team of the regular season.

At the same time, Girma was making a name for herself with the U.S. women’s national team, earning her first cap in 2022 under former head coach Vlatko Andonovski. Ahead of the 2023 World Cup, Megan Rapinoe provided her assessment of Girma’s instant-starter status.

“I don’t think you can leave her off the field,” Rapinoe told a handful of reporters ahead of a SheBelieves Cup match. “Calm, extremely smart. I don’t think her physicality gets talked about enough, deceptively quick. If you have any kind of quickness and brain, then that’s a wrap. She can play any kind of ball. She’s a great leader. She’s just f***ing good.”

By the time the 2023 World Cup rolled around, Girma was a locked starter — though alongside Julie Ertz who had unexpectedly returned to the team in time for the tournament, and not Becky Sauerbrunn (who wasn’t selected due to a foot injury). For as much as the USWNT’s earliest exit in a World Cup has been dissected, Girma and Ertz were the clear bright spot, only allowing two shots on goal through the four matches played.

Last summer at the Olympics, Girma once again played every minute of a major tournament for the team. This time, it was her coronation, ending with a gold medal.

“She’s the best defender I’ve ever seen,” head coach Emma Hayes said after the shutout semifinal victory against Germany. “.”

As Girma’s profile rose in the United States and the international game (Ballon d’Or snub aside), the Wave’s technical staff realized they would struggle to afford her. In June 2023, the club signed Girma to a new deal through the 2026 season, the maximum contract length at the time.

By the start of 2024, however, Girma had asked the team to consider an overseas loan. Sources briefed on these conversations did not specify which team — only that, because of the short turnaround time, the Wave were unable to honor that request.

During the season, the coaching staff and front office (and eventually, ownership) were going through changes of their own. General manager Molly Downtain announced her departure in February, though her final day with the Wave happened in April. By June, the team hired Camille Ashton to serve as the club’s new sporting director and general manager. Head coach Casey Stoney was fired later that month after a seven-game winless streak.

It would fall to Ashton to determine if Girma was still set on Europe. The 2024 summer window was still a theoretical possibility, though at this point — based on the NWSL club’s understanding of the situation — Girma had not yet determined what her preferred destination was.

Through the fall and into the winter transfer window, Girma was linked to three of the top European clubs: Arsenal, Lyon, and Chelsea. Arsenal was the first of those clubs to truly fall out of the running, though sources briefed on the team’s conversations with Girma and her agent did say that former Arsenal defender Alex Scott had an “informal” discussion with her over a potential move.

Lyon, as things inched closer to a final deal, was the main challenger to Chelsea, providing the Wave with a $1million offer for a transfer fee of their own. There was no shortage of American teammates to talk to there about their experiences in France, with USWNT captain Lindsey Horan and defender Sofia Huerta, currently on loan from Reign FC, both on the roster.

Chelsea, in many ways though, was always the frontrunner, and not just because of their willingness to be aggressive in their transfer window spending.

Naomi Girma had always been on Chelsea’s radar and scouts had previously filed reports on her over the past couple of years as Girma settled into the NWSL. Their hand was forced, however, last November after center back Kadeisha Buchanan tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). One source familiar with the deal confirmed that Girma became a primary target that month — and head coach Sonia Bompastor had been pretty clear on the need for depth at center-back across multiple press conferences this winter.

The goal for Chelsea remains to win the Champions League, and the team did not feel it could do that with Millie Bright and Nathalie Bjorn alone.

Back in San Diego, the club had to balance two priorities: helping Girma play where she wanted to play, but also ensuring the Wave got a fair shake on the final deal.

At first, there were exploratory conversations about Chelsea sending a player to California along with a transfer fee, but that turned too complicated and the final discussions were solely about the right dollar amount. Sources briefed on these conversations also said that San Diego wasn’t entirely sure it would be wrapped up in time for the window closing on January 30, but they also understood it wouldn’t be beneficial for them or Girma if she didn’t make the move this winter.

The Wave had already begun preparing for her absence on the 2025 roster, most crucially signing 17-year-old Trinity Armstrong, convincing her to make the leap to the pros after a successful freshman year at the University of North Carolina which culminated in an NCAA national championship — and a summer with the U.S. under-17s at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in which the team won bronze. Armstrong, not unlike Girma, had played every minute of that tournament for the youth national team.

Armstrong may be poised to follow in the footsteps of Girma both in San Diego and her progression to the senior national team, but the Wave also knew that there was no way to replace Girma with a single player. She has always been one of one. Rather than focus on a big signing to compensate, the Wave have opted to focus on the team’s depth and chemistry as a whole under new head coach Jonas Eidevall.

By January 21, the Wave and Chelsea had agreed to the terms of the transfer: a $1.1million fee, which sources said would be split across three years. It was also the first day of San Diego’s preseason — which Girma reported to — and a few days after the U.S. women’s national team announced Girma would miss the January camp due to a minor calf injury.

By that Sunday, all the trappings of her announcement were in place, including the hype video, promotional photos, and the customized ‘Girma 16′ jerseys prominently featured on the team’s store website.

The moment had finally arrived, and no cold London drizzle could dampen the moment of Girma stepping out from the tunnel at Stamford Bridge in blue, her hand raised in a wave, as the stadium blared the chorus of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

US Women's national team, San Diego Wave, Soccer, NWSL

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