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On Monday, Chelsea Ladies Football Club announced that they have agreed terms with their first signing of the winter transfer window, Jonna Andersson from Swedish champions Linköpings FC. Andersson will join officially on December 29th when the WSL transfer window opens, three days before the January window opens in the Premier League. She has just wrapped up the 2017 season with Linköpings, winning her third Damallsvenskan title.
Andersson is a 24-year-old Swedish international who usually plays on the left flank, primarily as a left back or left wing back. With the club since she was 16, she established herself as a first-team regular during the 2013 season. Her pace and work rate are excellent, and her ball skills and crossing ability could make her the natural successor to the veteran Gemma Davison and challenge the likes of Crystal Dunn for first-team minutes in manager Emma Hayes’s 3-4-1-2 system.
“Jonna is a player I am very excited about. I have been keeping tabs on her for a while and this is the perfect time for her to take the next step in her career. She has a fantastic left foot and is among the top assist makers in Sweden and will add another dimension to our squad. She is a good character and a winner and is the perfect profile for what we are building here.”
-Emma Hayes; source: Chelsea FC
At Chelsea, Andersson will link up with her former teammate Magdalena Eriksson, who joined from Linköpings over the summer. With Eriksson having cemented herself as the first choice left-sided center back, it will be interesting to see if the established interplay between the two sways Hayes in favor of her new signing over Davison, Dunn, or club fixture Claire Rafferty.
Chelsea’s squad is already overflowing with talent, which makes it hard to get too excited about any one signing, but the continued pursuit and acquisition of top talent from around the world is an exciting sign of the commitment of the club to continue chasing top status. Andersson’s winning mentality will be welcomed among good company with the Blues. She won three league titles and three domestic cups in her time with Linköpings, and now will have a chance to add WSL or Champions League medals to her trophy cabinet.