Naomi Girma is injured on her Chelsea debut after world record transfer

By: James Robson, The Associated Press Posted: 12:47 PM CST Sunday, Mar. 2, 2025

Naomi Girma, women’s soccer's first million-dollar player, was injured and substituted on her Chelsea debut on Sunday.

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Naomi Girma, women’s soccer's first million-dollar player, was injured and substituted on her Chelsea debut on Sunday.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/03/2025 (582 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Naomi Girma, women’s soccer’s first million-dollar player, was injured and substituted on her Chelsea debut on Sunday.

The United States defender was taken off after 59 minutes of the 2-2 draw against Brighton and it was not immediately clear how serious the unspecified injury was.

“We’ll need to assess her tomorrow, but it doesn’t look too bad, but we will see,” Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor said.

Chelsea's Naomi Girma receives treatment before being substituted during the Barclays Women's Super League match at the Broadfield Stadium, Brighton and Hove, England, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (John Walton/PA via AP)

The 24-year-old Girma joined Chelsea from San Diego Wave in January for a reported fee of 900,000 pounds ($1.1 million). That deal surpassed the previous world-record fee of $788,000 that Bay FC paid to sign Zambia striker Rachael Kundananji from Madrid CFF last year.

Girma was replaced by Nathalie Bjorn in the Women’s Super League game at Brighton’s Broadfield Stadium.

“She’s learning about the league, the team and her teammates. As you could see, the first game is never easy because it’s a competitive league,” Bompastor said. “It was good for us to have her start this game, building minutes and being able to play with the team.”

Five-time defending WSL champion Chelsea secured a point through Lauren James’ equalizer in the 61st.

Chelsea led through Sandy Baltimore’s opener in the 16th, but Brighton went in 2-1 up at halftime after goals from Maris Olislagers in the 22nd and Vicky Losada in the 42nd.