Official: Erin Cuthbert signs new three-year deal

It would appear that after securing the league double — one trophy won on the pitch, the other on sporting merit after the 2019-20 WSL season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic — Chelsea thought some pay raises were in order. Having announced an extension for Bethany England just under two days ago, it’s now Erin Cuthbert’s turn.

The right winger/wide midfielder has been an integral part of two double-winning Chelsea seasons since 2017, so it’s easy to forget how young she is (turned 22 last week), and how much better she can still get. That is to take nothing away from how good she is right now, which is: extremely good.

Cuthbert’s relied on to beat players in wide battles 1v1 (according to fbref.com she completed 17 of 27 attempted dribbles in the league) and deliver crosses (her 48 was second only to her opposite flank teammate Guro Reiten’s 54). But the thing that truly stands out about Cuthbert’s game is her ability to find and crack a high-velocity shot from nearly anywhere on the pitch.

This is why she is a high-ranking member of the fictional and extremely online-only club referred to as #TeamBangersOnly. It would be rude to proceed without offering you key pieces of her resumé, so here they are:

Bangers Only isn’t about simply shooting from outside of the box, there’s an art to creating shooting windows that allow you to wallop the ball at the goal before the defense realizes what you’re doing.

Good lord.

Masterful.

In addition, she is also a card carrying member of Sauce FC (I spend too much time online but that’s not important right now, this is).

Delicate.

Oh dear.

Congratulations to Erin on three more years as a Blue, and congratulations to us, who get to watch this already marvelously talented player enter her prime while in Chelsea colors.