Women

Pernille Harder signs for Chelsea

She-Wolves captain moving to London with immediate effect.

The 3-1 Champions League final defeat at the hands of Olympique Lyon was Pernille Harder’s last match in a VfL Wolfsburg jersey. The Danish attacker, who joined the club in January 2017 from Swedish side Linköpings FC and who had a contract with VfL until 30 June 2021, is moving with immediate effect to current English champions Chelsea. A transfer fee is being paid to VfL, but both clubs have agreed to keep that sum confidential. Harder made a total of 75 FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga appearances for the She-Wolves (scoring 68 goals), as well as 16 in the DFB Cup (11 goals) and 23 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (25 goals).

Four-time double winner

The 27-year-old won the German league and cup double four years in a row with the Green-and-Whites. In the 2017/18 and 2019/20 seasons, she was also top scorer in the FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga. She was crowned UEFA European Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2018, and just a few days ago, she won Germany’s 2020 Footballer of the Year award.

“My thanks to the VfL fans”

“I’d like to express my thanks to those in charge at VfL Wolfsburg, who really looked after me so well right from day one and who are now allowing me to take the next step in my career,” Harder said. “Wolfsburg has always been a home away from home for me. I’m also grateful to my team-mates and the whole coaching and backroom staff, who have all played a major part in my development as a footballer and as a person. We have shared so many experiences and have such good memories that we can all look back on. Last but not least, my thanks go to the VfL fans who have always supported me and have been there for us every step of the way. I’m really proud of the three-and-a-half years that I spent at VfL Wolfsburg and of everything that I achieved with the club during this time. It’s great that I can live out the dream that I had as a kid. Now I’m really looking forward to beginning a new chapter in England with all the new challenges that it will involve.”

“Very accomplished player”

“We would like to thank Pernille for the incredibly successful stage in her career and the wonderful performances that she enjoyed in a VfL Wolfsburg jersey, and wish her every success in the new challenge that she is taking on in England,” said Ralf Kellermann, sporting director of VfL Women. “Pernille is a very accomplished player who stayed with the club for a good length of time, despite receiving plenty of other offers. She was always fully committed to the team and achieved a great deal here. We are very grateful for that and we took that into account when she came to us a few weeks ago asking to move to Chelsea. The fact that she let us know at an early stage meant that we could integrate this into our plans for the 2020/21 squad. We weighed up every aspect of the transfer in great detail and ended up coming to the decision that we would not stand in Pernille’s way, and so released her from her contract early.

“Taking into account the fact that we are dealing with a record transfer fee for the women’s game – without going into the precise nature of the sum involved – and that Pernille was only going to be with us for another 10 months and had just played in the UWCL finals tournament for us, we decided that this was a fair solution for all involved. We are obviously aware of Pernille’s many qualities and the value that she has on the pitch for our team. On the other hand, I’m sure that other players who have not yet fully realised their potential will now come into focus, and that this will allow us to continue down the path that we have been on for the past few years. Furthermore, it gives us the scope to make adjustments to our squad if and when we deem it necessary in the first half of the season.”