Chloe Kelly can’t stop grinning. It almost looks painful to hold your mouth so wide, but this is a pain she will willingly bear and keep bearing. Four months ago the forward was on the ropes, her love of football gone and her chance of making England’s Euro 2025 squad slim. An impasse with Manchester City meant she had started one league game all season and, despite their staggering injury crisis, it seemed there was no way back. Now, she is a European champion at club and country level, after a deadline-day loan to Arsenal was forced, in part, by a bold decision to go public with the way she was feeling on social media.
“I was ready to take a break from football completely,” Kelly says. “I’m just grateful. As soon as I stepped foot in this club, I found happiness. Renée Slegers, as soon as she got on the phone to me, to give me the opportunity to represent this badge, I wanted to repay her. From being in such a dark place to now, it’s crazy.”
