Chelsea have signed England international Lucy Bronze on a free transfer.
The 32-year-old defender was a free agent after leaving Barcelona following the end of her contract.
She has become the fourth signing under new Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor, who replaced Emma Hayes earlier this summer. The club have also signed Julia Bartel from Barcelona alongside duo Sandy Baltimore and Oriane Jean-Francois from Paris Saint-Germain.
Bronze will reunite with Bompastor having previously played under the French coach during her spell at Lyon.
Bronze, capped 123 times by England and a multiple Ballon d’Or nominee, also had spells with Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton and Sunderland before her move to the Catalan club two seasons ago.
The right-back joined Barcelona from Manchester City in 2022 and won back-to-back Liga F and Champions League titles during her two seasons with the club.
Her two Champions League successes took her tally of titles in the competition to five, having won the tournament on three occasions with Lyon.
Bronze made 70 appearances for Barcelona, scoring five goals, and started the Champions League final victories over Wolfsburg in 2023 and Lyon in 2024.
A Barcelona statement read: “Seven titles out of eight possible. This is the legacy left to FC Barcelona by one of the best defenders in the history of women’s football. The club wishes Lucy Bronze the best of luck and success in her new stage, both personally and professionally.”
Bronze was a key member of the Lionesses team that won the Women’s European Championship in 2022.
She started in all six games at Euro 2022, scoring in the semi-final win over Sweden before featuring in the final against Germany at Wembley.
(Naomi Baker – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
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