by Sylvain Jamet

Multiple sources have stated that Fran Kirby aka England’s ‘mini Messi‘ is on the shopping list of the top FA WSL 1 teams: Chelsea Ladies, Manchester City Women and Arsenal Ladies with Chelsea Ladies in pole position according to Sky Sports.

Fran Kirby just came back from the World Cup with England having scored the first England goal in the tournament. She made her international debut a season ago back in August 2014 and at 22-years-old is certainly the breakthrough player of the year for England.

She has three goals in 13 caps. Her World Cups stats are good with four games played for 232 minutes; one goal, three shots on target and three shots off target. She also comitted one foul. Mark Sampson mentioned she was not fit to play the third place play-off game against Germany.

She is extremely quick, technically strong and intelligent on the ball, with the ability to go past defenders easily as seen in last season’s Reading v Arsenal highlights.

She was the first player to be considered a professional in the second division FA WSL 2, when Reading FC granted her a contract back in November, as the aforementioned suitors were already looking to sign her on a free at the time.

With the transfer window closing on Thursday, the clubs will have to make a move quickly to get her registered on time for the FA WSL restart on Sunday. The Summer transfer window only lasts a month in women’s football, as the three month transfer window happens between January and March, with the FA WSL being a Summer League.

Fran Kirby is contracted to Reading until 2018 and both the BBC and the Express are mentioning a transfer fee that could be worth between £40,000 and £60,000. As a matter of comparison, French defender Griedge M’Bock Bathy has just moved to Lyon for a reported €100,000 transfer fee while France forward Marie Laure Delie moved to PSG in 2013 for about €60,000

Transfer fees are a regular occurence in the FA WSL, with Manchester City having signed Lucy Bronze from Liverpool and Izzy Christiansen from Birmingham or Notts County signing Everton Ladies Alex Greenwood.

Arsenal Ladies would certainly benefit from signing such a talented player although you do wonder why the club does not prefer signing a right winger as no real specialised player has been used in that position since Gemma Davison departed in November 2013.