Manchester United Women’s summer just went from bad to worse. Chelsea have agreed to buy striker Melvine Malard for around £850,000, according to the BBC. That makes it the highest fee ever received for a United Women’s player, and the most any women’s club has gotten for a player with one year left on her contract.
The 26-year-old French international is set for a medical before completing the move to Stamford Bridge. There, she’ll be reunited with Sonia Bompastor, the manager who coached her at Lyon before Malard left for United in 2023.
United had hoped to keep her by offering a new deal. But Malard rejected it and told the club she wanted the move, per The Athletic’s reporting. Fans had already been nervous about the direction of the team after a tough spring, and this feels like another gut punch.
A rough few months in Manchester
United Women started the season strong, but things fell apart down the stretch. They lost the League Cup final, got bounced from the Champions League and the FA Cup, and slipped out of the top three entirely. That means no European soccer next season, which is a brutal outcome for a team that looked dangerous early on.
The summer window hasn’t helped. So far, United has brought in exactly one new player: Spanish fullback Andrea Medina from Atletico Madrid. Meanwhile, rivals above and below them in the table have made some serious moves to upgrade their squads. The fanbase has been vocal about it, and questions about the owners’ commitment to the women’s team keep getting louder.
What happens with the cash?
The fee for Malard doesn’t get announced until the official paperwork is done, but the reported number is around £850,000. That’s a lot of money for a player with a year left on her deal. United now has to decide if they’re going to reinvest it into the squad or let things ride. Considering how bare the roster is starting to look, reinvesting seems like the only sane option.
Fixtures for the new season drop at the end of July, so there’s still time for United to add some pieces before the real games start. But right now, it’s hard to find much optimism. The team is losing one of its best players to a direct rival, and the transfer window has been quiet. Fans are hoping the Malard money gets spent smartly, but nobody knows for sure yet.
Featured image: Gualter Fatia via Getty Images.
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