Women's Super League: Chelsea's 'Korean Messi' loves the comparsion - but it makes her blush

Ji So Yun has already said she’s honoured but embarrassed to be referred to as “the Korean Messi”.

It’s difficult for her to shrug off the comparisons, though. The skilful way she has carved through the defences of the Women’s Super League from the centre of the Chelsea midfield has impressed many, not least her peers. She picked up the PFA Player of the Year award in 2015, and all the pictures of the gala event show her looking slightly stunned but happy.

She says that’s a fair reflection of how she was feeling at the time.

“It was very unexpected,” she admits. “I didn’t think I would get it.”

Indeed, she topped the voting ahead of her colleague Eni Aluko as well as the 2014 winner Lucy Bronze of Manchester City and the Arsenal veteran Kelly Smith, plus Notts County’s Jess Clarke and Karen Carney – then at Birmingham City and now a Chelsea team-mate. Self-effacing, she attempts to switch the focus away from her accolade, and back to her club, saying: “I enjoyed the whole experience of it, being there and representing Chelsea - that was really good.”

Yet this was one in a long line of individual awards in her increasing collection. Four months before that, she had been named WSL1 Players’ Player of the Year; four months afterwards, she scored the only goal of the game at Wembley to secure the FA Women’s Cup for Chelsea.

That might have been a reasonably straightforward tap-in, but her more spectacular strikes have also caught the eye – her wonderful effort against Liverpool won the 2015 WSL goal of the season, showcasing her excellent first touch and close control as well as her ability to finish.

Her pride in her involvement in Chelsea’s recent successes is evident. Softly spoken amidst her louder team-mates - accompanied today by goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl, defender Gilly Flaherty and winger Gemma Davison - she understands what is being said around her, but chooses to mediate her answers through an interpreter to ensure accuracy.

Like most of those connected with the club, she acknowledges that matching or exceeding the successes of 2015 will be tough on a personal and on a team level; Chelsea won the domestic double and have both the Champions League and the Continental Cup (the women’s game’s equivalent of the League Cup) in their sights this time round.

“We’re aiming for all the titles this season,” she announces, before adding the caveat: “It’s going to be harder than last year.”

Ji knows about the importance of consistency and continuing success. She began her professional career with INAC Kobe Lionesses, Nadeshiko winners in all three years she was there; she agreed to sign for Chelsea in 2013, and finished her time with the Japanese club by helping them to secure the world club championship – against her new side.

Making the move to England was a big decision, especially bearing in mind that at the time the WSL had only been up and running for two years, compared to the decade-plus that the Japanese league had been operational.

“Obviously they’ve got a bigger league and more of an investment, so I was used to bigger facilities,” she confesses. “It was quite surprising when I first came here - it was an environment that I wasn’t used to.”

Chelsea, like the majority of the other WSL clubs, are rapidly investing in their resources – not just in terms of playing staff, but the training and gym facilities as well. It’s something Ji welcomes.

“It’s good to see that the club is getting bigger and bigger - and with more investment it’ll get even bigger,” she says. “I’m very happy to be part of it.”

Technogym equipment, the Official Fitness Equipment Partner of Chelsea FC http://www.technogym.com/gb