Sam Kerr to leave Chelsea: Australia international to depart Women's Super League club this summer

Sam Kerr will leave Chelsea when her contract expires this summer.

Kerr is the all-time leading scorer in the Women's Super League and is one of the most iconic figures in the women's game.

The Australia forward has also scored 115 goals in 157 matches in all competitions for Chelsea since joining the club six-and-a-half years ago.

She is one goal behind Chelsea's all-time record goalscorer Fran Kirby - and has the chance to match and eclipse the scoring record in her final game for the club against Manchester United on Saturday, kick-off 1pm.

"When I reflect on my Chelsea career and doing it for the last time [against Manchester United this Saturday], I just feel happy,'" said Kerr, reflecting on her departure.

"Happy that it happened, and I feel so grateful to have played for this club for six years and won as many trophies as we could."

Kerr will depart Chelsea having won five Women's Super League titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and the Community Shield.

The 32-year-old also won two WSL Golden Boots in her first two full seasons at the club in 2021 and 2022. She also finished second in the Ballon D'Or in 2023, before being ruled out for 20 months due to a serious knee injury.

She returned last September and has since scored 16 goals in 29 appearances this season for Chelsea.

Kerr became Chelsea's all-time WSL goalscorer with a goal against Leicester earlier this month. It was the first time she had found the net in three consecutive WSL games for first time since May 2023.

Recapturing form in time to become a Chelsea history-maker is very Kerr-coded. The way she scored her 64th goal was typical, too, arriving with perfect timing to meet Niamh Charles' floated delivery.

Kerr's double movement makes her especially hard to track, and even when defenders manage to get touch-tight, her physical dominance and aerial power is such that she is rarely beaten to a header.