'Thought I was having a heart attack' - Lionesses star Chloe Kelly lifts lid on crippling anxiety before leaving Arsenal for Man City

Kelly's time at City came to an abrupt end earlier this year. The Lionesses star struggled for game time in Manchester in the first half of the 2024-25 season, prompting her to make an emotional statement as the January transfer window ticked down. She went on to claim that her lack of action was having a negative effect on her mental well-being. Kelly went as far as to allege her employers were planting negative stories about her in the press, while suppressing her ability to pursue the move of her choice. 

Her statement read: "So disappointed to find out tonight that people at the club are briefing journalists against me if I am to sign at a club before the window shuts. They've called reporters to assassinate my character and tried to plant negative stories about me in the football media, which are false accusations. Women should look after each other and build each other up... not shoot them down to protect their employers. To those responsible, I am disappointed in this. As stated in my previous statement, I just want to find happiness again."

Following Kelly's public announcement, she was hastily sent out on an initial loan deal and the transfer was then made permanent in the summer.

Speaking on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast, Kelly said: "I loved sitting in the dark and I was like, ‘This isn’t OK’. Just being by myself, quiet and sitting in the dark. It got to the point with my anxiety that I couldn’t get off the bathroom floor because I was just being sick. I tried taking the dogs for a walk, colouring in and it wasn’t an eating disorder. It was a vicious cycle because I didn’t want to feel anxious and I didn’t want to throw up, but when I felt anxious, I just needed to throw up. There was one occasion where Scott (Moore) got me off the bathroom floor and put me in the hallway, just to stop me from throwing up."

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Further speaking on her anxiety, Kelly added: "I started losing my hair. I was like, ‘No, this isn’t acceptable’. It carried on and I remember saying to Scott, ‘I feel like I’ve got a bald patch in my hair’. I noticed then on the other side another bald patch and it was then that I thought I had alopecia. I went to the doctor at England and just said, ‘My hair’s falling out but it’s itching as well on my head’. He sent me to some specialists and she was amazing and told me I had alopecia. I was like, now I’m seeing the physical effects it (anxiety) is having on my body, not only mental. 

"That was a tough time because you care about your appearance a lot and you want to feel confident. I remember my first game at Arsenal covering my bald patches. I had panic attacks and thought I was having a heart attack at times. When my hair was coming out, I remember questioning whether I can go fully bald. She was like, ‘it takes three months’. So for the next three months, it was like waiting and seeing. Now, I look at my hair and it’s grown back. I had my hair in a pony in the recent camp and my hair was growing outwards. Incredible things have happened since I made that step."

The Lionesses star is currently sidelined with a knee injury but she is expected to return to action soon. Kelly missed the Women's Super League clash with Everton last Saturday but she could make a comeback during the north London club's Women's League Cup quarter-final clash against Crystal Palace on December 21.