Chelsea have signed the Canada defender Kadeisha Buchanan from Lyon and announced that she will be the first player at the club to wear the No 26 shirt since John Terry left in 2017.
Buchanan has been at Lyon for five and a half years and last month won her fifth Champions League there, coming on in the final against Barcelona. The 26-year-old has played 118 times for Canada and was part of the team that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
She has been named her country’s player of the year three times and was nominated for the 2015 Ballon d’Or. Buchanan has signed a three-year contract.
“Kadeisha is a serial winner at the top of her game and I have no doubt we are signing a world-class player,” the manager, Emma Hayes, said.
Buchanan is the second defender to join Chelsea this week, after the versatile France international Ève Périsset. “It’s time to bring a Champions League trophy to London,” Buchanan told Chelsea’s website. “I’m hoping to bring my experience to the team and continue on the successful pathway that the club has been on for the past seasons.”