Manchester City have accepted a loan offer from Arsenal for forward Chloe Kelly just hours before the Women’s Super League‘s January transfer deadline, sources have told ESPN.
Kelly made an emotive plea in an Instagram post on Wednesday asking to be granted her wish to leave City in search of first-team football before potentially starring in Euro 2025 with England next summer.
Manchester United remain keen on signing Kelly, sources have told ESPN, although City have been reluctant to see her join their local rivals.
The forward has made just six WSL appearances this season, saying on Wednesday that the situation has taken a toll on her mental health.
Kelly said: “For a long time, I’ve tried to work through professional challenges privately, not commenting publicly, but with my situation increasingly being debated in the public domain, I feel it’s time to be open and transparent, and you heard it from my perspective.
“A key lesson I have learned in my life is that whilst I can’t control someone’s negative behaviour towards me, I can control how long I am prepared to tolerate it.”
She added: “I’m at a pivotal point in my life, and my career is so important to me and is very disappointing that the sport we love can make you feel this way, especially after there’s been so much growth in our sport.
This is why I’m posting this because I want to make you all aware that we, as players, dedicate our lives to our sport and our clubs, but our dreams can be crushed whilst we live in silence.
“I am human, and I have and will give everything to the game that I love. Ultimately I just want to be happy again.”
