She told reporters: "I don't have to sacrifice the things that made me healthy. I didn't feel healthy at the end, I actually felt unwell at the end of my time at Chelsea. It wasn't pressure, it was the stress and toll it took on me and doing that during menopause was even harder. To get on top of all of those things, I've got my mojo back and my smile and enjoyment back which I didn't realise I had lost."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Hayes has taken the success she enjoyed at Chelsea to the USWNT as they won Olympic Gold at the Paris Olympics this year. Now she is back in London as her USA side play England in a friendly at Wembley this weekend.
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After facing Sarina Wiegman's England in the capital on Saturday evening, her USA side travel to Netherlands for another friendly on December 3 to round off 2024.