Soccer is Shifting to Europe

Portland Thorns FC announced the transfer of defender Ellie Carpenter to Division 1 Féminine club Olympique Lyonnais. Ellie Carpenter signed with Thorns FC in 2018.

First, it was midfielder Samantha Mewis to Manchester City. Then midfielder Rose Lavelle, also to Manchester City. Then defender Emily Sonnett to Göteborg FC. Soccer players around the U.S. have slowly been shifting to Europe to play games. More transfers for Women’s National team players are in the works. 

Yahoo sports mentioned that “Calling it a mass exodus of USWNT stars out of the National Women’s Soccer League wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. More accurately, it’s an exodus from the United States, where the COVID-19 pandemic is still not under control”.

Players who hadn’t considered playing outside the U.S. as an option, or expressed general interest in the idea, are starting to consider it now. Players who otherwise would’ve stayed in the U.S. to play soccer have been encouraged to go elsewhere. This is solely for the reason of COVID-19. 

While leaving is a growing option for the players, it’s one that other female soccer players and male soccer players in the U.S. probably won’t be able to follow, even if they want to.

Players in the MLS, for instance, are locked into their contracts that prohibit them from leaving unless their club agrees to let them go. Which is turning out to be way harder than they thought it would be. The reason being that clubs are reluctant to let them go.

MLS clubs tend to be annoying when it comes to selling players abroad because like most clubs, they tend to value their players more than the global market does.

For most USWNT players in the National Women’s Soccer League, nothing is stopping them from leaving the league if a club elsewhere is willing to sign them. In non-pandemic times, any USWNT player could opt out of the NWSL, but she would lose a large salary, a trade-off that isn’t usually worth it. In these 2020 times, 17 USWNT players are guaranteed contracts that include $100,000 salaries paid by the federation as long as they all compete in the NWSL. 

In off-cycle years, which means years without the Olympics or World cups, four salaried players are permitted to leave the NWSL. But 2020 was supposed to be an Olympic year, so technically no one on a salary is supposed to leave. Due to the pandemic, the NWSL didn’t officially have a season. Both U.S. Soccer and the USWNT Players Association agreed that the National Women’s Soccer League Challenge Cup would be optional, meaning there is no penalty for players. 

This means that Lavelle, Mewis, and any other USWNT player can leave for Europe without giving up a $100,000 salary in all consideration of whether the USWNT plays another game in 2020.