CONFIRMED: Champions League winner to be new head Chelsea coach next week
Following her current team Olympique Lyonnais’s recent loss in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final, Chelsea Women are expected to formally name Sonia Bompastor as the next head coach, according to The Athletic.
Bompastor, well-known for her accomplishments in women’s football as a manager and player, will take over for Emma Hayes, who left the team to lead the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) following a fruitful 12-year tenure.
Under Bompastor’s direction, Lyon suffered a blow this past Saturday in a hotly contested final hosted in Bilbao when they lost to the reigning champions, Barcelona. Bompastor is expected to take over as Chelsea’s manager despite the defeat, bringing her considerable expertise and strategic insight to the Women’s Super League (WSL).
Alongside Bompastor, Chelsea is also set to welcome her long-term assistant Camille Abily to the coaching staff. This announcement comes amid a broader reshuffling of the team’s backroom staff, following the departure of several members who have followed Hayes to the USWNT.
Bompastor, who possesses Portuguese heritage and is fluent in English, was promoted to the position of head coach at Lyon after Jean-Luc Vasseur’s departure in April 2021. During her tenure, she led Lyon to a double victory in her first full season, capturing both the Division 1 Feminine title and the Women’s Champions League. Lyon continued to perform strongly under her leadership, retaining their league title the following year, although they were ousted from the Champions League quarter-finals by Chelsea, in a dramatic penalty shootout.
Her appointment to Chelsea was first hinted at in February when The Athletic reported that the club had offered her a contract after identifying her as the ideal candidate to succeed Hayes. Hayes, on her part, ended her Chelsea career on a high note, securing a fifth consecutive WSL title — her seventh in total — in her final game.
Chelsea fans will likely be optimistic about Bompastor’s impending arrival, hoping she can translate her impressive track record at Lyon to success in the WSL and lead the team to new heights.