Chloe Kelly is back to her best! Lionesses star ensuring Arsenal loan will lead to increased England Euros role after miserable Man City spell

It was for the best interest of all parties that Kelly moved on in January, having fallen wildly out of favour at City amid reports of a relationship breakdown with then-head coach Gareth Taylor. But it never felt like the eventual solution was ever going to work out well for her parent club, with them sending a talented and extremely motivated attacking asset to a team battling with them for one of the three available European spots.

Some doubted whether Kelly would get the playing time she was after as Arsenal have a lot of quality options for their forward line, but actually she was perhaps the missing piece in that area. Her addition as the Gunners’ fourth winger - alongside Mead, Mariona Caldentey and Caitlin Foord - has given head coach Renee Slegers the ability to regularly chop and change in those positions, be it between games or during. It has kept the attack fresh, full of energy and firing on all cylinders, which has been important while the fixtures have stacked up.

It’s also given Slegers more license to use Caldentey centrally, as she did in Thursday’s incredible comeback against Real Madrid and again in the clinical win over Palace. In both games, the Spaniard played brilliantly - and so did Kelly.

The England winger’s final ball was a key feature of that victory over Madrid, with superb cross after superb cross delivered into the visitors’ box. Those produced Arsenal’s first two goals of an eventual 3-0 win, which overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit on what was the first occasion in seven years that a team had come back from two goals down at the halfway point of a Women’s Champions League knockout tie.

Kelly continued that fine form in Sunday’s win over Palace, creating two of the Gunners’ four goals to take some serious momentum into this upcoming international break. Six weeks ago, the 27-year-old was left out of the England squad for the first time in Sarina Wiegman’s tenure, owing to a lack of minutes. Now, with her well up to speed again, she feels like a must-start against Belgium on Friday.

"She came in with a lot of motivation and with a smile on her face and she said, 'I want to enjoy football. I want to represent Arsenal. I want to do my best for the team'. I think that's what she's done since she came in,” Slegers said of Kelly last week, before highlighting some of the off-pitch values she’s also brought to the table. “I knew the qualities she had as a player, but to see her day in, day out, I think she really contributes to our training environment. She's very feisty, she's a winner, very competitive. She's great. We're very happy with her.”

In a week which saw Kelly's creativity really stand out, Slegers was keen to praise the winger's work ethic out of possession after the win over Palace, too. "It’s very demanding to play for Arsenal, in all positions," she explained. "I think definitely the wide position is hard work and you need to bring quality and you need to bring intelligence on the ball, but then you need to bring a lot of work rate out of possession and you see all our players doing that. Chloe is one of them and she did it really well."

It's not like Kelly ever lost any of these traits. Even in her limited game time at City this season, she was able to show glimpses of her quality. It's just that she's in a different environment now which is not only providing her with more opportunities, but helping her to regain the confidence she lost in what became a difficult situation in Manchester.

"I think the way Renee sees the team play and the wingers play is sometimes inverted wingers and it’s quite new to me, but something where I feel like I can add to the team," Kelly said this past week. "I just want to be at my best every day for the team and Renee gives me confidence in those areas. Sometimes you make mistakes in those areas, but it is about the reaction as soon as you lose it and I think for me, that’s really important, but the confidence she gives me is really high, so I’m feeling good at the moment.

"I always said I really wanted to get my smile back and this club has done just that for me and I’m very grateful. You can see when I have a smile on my face, I just play free and I have good energy. For me, that’s what it’s all about. I think when Renee gives that confidence to you, you just have to show and repay that. I’m just having fun, so when I’m having fun, I’m at my best."

With that confidence, Kelly has helped propel Arsenal into the Champions League semi-finals and the Gunners are in a good position in the WSL, too, ready to pounce should title favourites Chelsea have any more slip-ups in them before the end of the campaign. But her return to action, and form, is also fantastic news for England, with whom Kelly's focus will be this week.

The Lionesses will host Belgium on Friday before travelling to Leuven for the reverse fixture just a few days later, as their Nations League campaign continues. It's hard to imagine Kelly not starting at least one of those games, or even both, given how well she is playing right now.

"You can tell she's enjoying [her football] now," Wiegman said of the winger recently. "What we want, of course, is that she shows her qualities and that she's at her best, because that will help the team." She certainly looks close to that at the moment.

What about beyond now? Kelly is out of contract at City in the summer, and while fans of the club will hope that the departure of Taylor could pave the way for the England star to return, it wouldn't be a surprise if she wanted to move on after everything that happened.

Plus, she is loving her time back at Arsenal and playing under Slegers. "This is a great club," Kelly said this week when asked about her future. "I just want to focus on being the best I can be every day to contribute to this amazing club, amazing team. I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring me here on loan. Of course, I’m still contracted to Manchester City, so I think I have to show respect, but I just want to be at my best every single day, give what I can for this season and who knows what the future holds?"

For now, everything bodes well for Kelly, Arsenal and England, with the Lionesses just three months away from their Euros defence. At this rate, the player who scored the goal to deliver that trophy on home soil in 2022 must surely fancy her chances of starting the first game in Switzerland, too.