'Let's go to the USA mummy!' - Incoming USWNT boss Emma Hayes reveals son's heart-warming 'endorsement' that helped her make 'hard' decision to leave Chelsea

Hayes will leave Chelsea at the end of the current season, bringing 12 incredible and illustrious years at the club to a close. She has helped turn the Blues into the dominant force in English women's football but is now set to take on a new challenge in international football, with the USWNT.

Speaking to the Telegraph about the decision to make the switch, Hayes recalled the moment she spoke to Harry, her five-year-old son, about the possibility of going to the United States. "I asked him, ‘Mummy’s got the chance to go and coach the USA team or we can stay here?’ and his reaction really helped me," she said. "I didn’t know what he was going to say, but he smiled, he hugged me, he kissed me and he said, ‘Let’s go to the USA, mummy, I’m really excited, I want to go to the USA!’ and I almost couldn’t believe it. That was it, that was the endorsement I needed."

Hayes was in a difficult moment at the time U.S. Soccer's interest became known as she had just lost her father. However, she praised the federation for its "support" and said that the role was "impossible to turn down" once they had spoken about how best to make it work.

"Truthfully, I was grieving, and I couldn’t think of anything else. I didn’t have any feeling at that point,” Hayes recalled. "So, I just felt like it was hard to make a life-changing decision, at a time that just didn’t feel right, so reaching that decision with almost a compromise to start at the end of this season was, I think, the only way I could have done it. I really can’t say enough good things about US Soccer and the way they’ve supported that decision and made me feel wanted. They’ve made me feel valued enough that they supported it. Once they agreed to all the things that really mattered to me, it was impossible to turn down."

Hayes will certainly not be eased into the USWNT role as her first few weeks in the job will be focused on the upcoming Olympic women's football tournament, with the nation aiming to win a record-extending fifth gold medal. With four World Cup titles also to its name, the U.S. has been the biggest side in international women's soccer for a long time now.

"Without doubt, it is a major reason I accepted the job, to go to an Olympics, a World Cup, and be leading out the most established women’s football nation,” Hayes added. "When the time comes, I will give it absolutely everything I’ve got. I know what the Olympics means to America and I’ve been made aware of that from my time living out there."

Hayes has won 15 major honours in her time in charge of Chelsea. This season, the Blues are still alive in all four of the competitions they compete in, too, so could well add plenty to that total before the manager departs.

Hayes' focus will be on Chelsea until the season is over and she has a huge game to focus on this weekend especially, with the reigning English champions facing title contenders Manchester City in a battle of the Women's Super League's top two on Friday.

The USWNT, meanwhile, will compete in the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup later this month, taking on Argentina, Mexico and either Guyana or the Dominican Republic in the group stages.