USWNT abroad: Lindsey Horan, Emily Fox, Korbin Albert are off to the races with 2024-25 season in Europe

USWNT have eight players representing Europe teams for what is set to be a thrilling 2024-25 campaign

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  Emily Fox (Arsenal)

  After signing for the club in January, Emily Fox is entering her first full season as an Arsenal player and will hope to help her team have a big year. The Gunners picked up silverware again last season, winning the League Cup, and secured a Champions League place by finishing third, but will be out for more in 2024-25.

  While fans want their team to win trophies and secure a place in the UWCL group stage, they really crave a title race and Fox will play a key role as Arsenal tries to deliver that. A regular starter at right-back, she'll be tasked with keeping wingers like Lauren James and Lauren Hemp quiet as the Gunners try to stay with Chelsea and Manchester City at the top of the WSL table.

  Fox has been superb since arriving in north London and, despite competition for her place from the returning Laura Wienroither, should play huge minutes for her club and prove why she also has starting status with the USWNT.

  Arsenal has already started its Champions League campaign, defeating Rangers and Rosenborg in the first round of qualifying, but it does have some work to do to reach the group stage of the competition after a 1-0 loss to Hacken on Wednesday. The second leg of that tie will follow on Sept. 26, after it starts its WSL season at home to Man City on Sept. 22.

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  Lindsey Horan (Lyon)

  Lindsey Horan earned a Player of the Year nomination and a place in the Team of the Season in the Premiere Ligue last term, such was the quality of her play as Lyon won yet another national title. Retaining that crown will be the absolute minimum expected at the club this season and Horan will be key in those plans.

  There has been a big change at Lyon this summer, with outgoing coach Sonia Bompastor replaced by Joe Montemurro. The former Arsenal boss has an expansive style of play which is sure to entertain - but can it deliver big results? OL, an eight-time European champion, is a club with huge ambitions and it will want to taste success across the board. Last season, it lost in the semi-finals of the French Cup and the final of the Champions League. It will want to improve on both results.

  What Horan's role looks like in Montemurro's side will be interesting, too. The midfielder no doubt thrives in a more advanced position but hasn't always been given that freedom - that is the case for club and country, even if she is a regular starter for both. We'll find out if that is any different under Montemurro when Lyon gets its season underway on Sept. 20, away at Fleury in the league.

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  Korbin Albert (PSG)

  After signing for Paris Saint-Germain in January 2023, Korbin Albert continued to make in-roads on the team's best XI in her first full season in 2023-24, earning 21 starts across all competitions as the club finished second in the league, reached the semifinals of the Champions League and, most notably, won the French Cup. It was just PSG's fifth major title on the women's side.

  Much has changed since that crowning moment. Head coach Jocelyn Precheur surprisingly departed for London City Lionesses, an English second-tier side owned by the very ambitious Michele Kang; 10 senior players have also left the club, including Premiere Ligue Player of the Season Tabitha Chawinga; and there have been five significant incomings, including England goalkeeper Mary Earps and Netherlands striker Romee Leuchter.

  Following so much change, it's hard to know whether the current PSG team - now led by the former Marseille and Nice midfielder Fabrice Abriel - is in a better position to compete with Lyon for the league title. The Parisians have only won it once before, after all, with OL the dominant force in French women's soccer.

  It's also hard to know what Albert's role in the team will be. The 20-year-old didn't start either match on a pre-season tour of Australia, though she had only recently joined up with the team after helping the USWNT win Olympic gold. As she bids to secure a starting spot with the national team, getting meaningful minutes and opportunities to show good form at club level will be key.

  PSG has already started its Champions League qualifying campaign, suffering a difficult 3-1 defeat to Juventus in Turin, and will kick off its league season on Sept. 21 at Montpellier. The second leg of that UWCL qualifier will follow on Sept. 26, with the winner to reach the group stage.

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  Eva Gaetino (PSG)

  One player who earned a first USWNT call-up thanks to her strong club form last season was Eva Gaetino. The center-back was seriously impressive for PSG after joining at the start of 2024, though it was always going to be tough for her to make Hayes' Olympic roster at such short notice. This season, Gaetino will be hoping to get another call-up and earn that national team debut.

  To do that, she'll need to be a regular for her club and the competition in her position has certainly increased, after Paulina Dudek returned from an ACL injury and Griedge Mbock Bathy signed from Lyon, even if Clare Hunt left for Tottenham. New head coach Abriel did play a 3-5-2 system which included all three on PSG's tour of Australia, though he did also deploy a 4-3-3 set-up that didn't include Gaetino from the start in the team's other game Down Under.

  In the coming weeks and months, we'll get more of an understanding of how this PSG team is going to look and what Gaetino's role will be as she looks to get into the USWNT picture.

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  Catarina Macario (Chelsea)

  It's been a tough summer for Catarina Macario. Injury meant she had to withdraw from the USWNT's Olympic roster, and thus missed out on a gold medal, and it has also limited her in Chelsea's preparations for the new campaign. Macario didn't play on the pre-season tour of the U.S. or in the Blues' final public friendly against Feyenoord, though she is making good progress in her recovery and should be back quite soon.

  Whether she is able to feature in Chelsea's first game as the WSL returns, that on Sept. 20 against Aston Villa, only time will tell. However, when she does play for her club again, she'll do so in rather different surroundings. As well as several changes in the squad, Hayes' takeover of the USWNT means the Blues have a new manager, though not one new to Macario. The forward was coached by Sonia Bompastor at Lyon and after winning a Champions League title there, the pair will hope to do so together again in England.

  That's the big goal Chelsea wants to achieve this season as it is the trophy that continues to elude the women's team. Defending its WSL title will also be a priority, as will strong showings in the FA Cup and League Cup.

  Macario played a variety of different roles under Bompastor in France and it's likely that will be the case in London, too, with there little doubt that she will be a key player for Chelsea when fit. Getting back to 100 percent is the main thing for now, something which is certain to also lead to a USWNT return.

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  Mia Fishel (Chelsea)

  It's unlikely that fans will see Mia Fishel in action again in 2024. The forward suffered a devastating ACL rupture back in February, one that was particularly hard for Chelsea to take given it came just weeks after Sam Kerr, who Fishel was the back-up to, did the same. Bompastor gave a positive update on the 23-year-old this summer, albeit while looking at a January return for her.

  It'll be interesting to see what kind of role Fishel has in the new coach's team when she is back. After the injury to Kerr, Chelsea signed another striker in January, in Colombia star Mayra Ramirez, so will have three strong options for the No. 9 role when all are available at the same time.

  Given how competitive the forward areas are on the USWNT roster, Fishel will need to be in good form to earn a spot on it, never mind playing regularly. We'll have to wait a little while to find out how that plays out though, with her to watch the first few months of the Blues' season from the sidelines.

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  Kristie Mewis (West Ham)

  It's been more than a year since Kristie Mewis was last involved with the USWNT and, at 33, it seems unlikely that Hayes will bring her back in as she looks ahead to the 2027 Women's World Cup. However, she's still a player that U.S. women's soccer fans enjoy tracking and watching - plus she already defied the odds to complete one incredible national team return. Another isn't totally out of the question.

  That won't be at the forefront of Mewis' mind as the 2024-25 campaign begins though. She'll instead be focused on getting back to full fitness after a frustrating first half-season at West Ham. The midfielder joined the Hammers in January but fitness issues limited her to just three appearances in all competitions, none of which were starts.

  Head coach Rehanne Skinner has been managing Mewis' minutes accordingly in pre-season, in the hope of having such a valuable and experienced player available as much as possible this time around. What she can bring to the table will be crucial in helping West Ham avoid a relegation battle and when she is fit, she'll surely be a starter. The Hammers begin the season on Sept. 21, away at Manchester United.

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  Lily Yohannes (Ajax)

  One of the most interesting stories of the entire 2023-24 women's soccer season in Europe was the emergence of Lily Yohannes. At 16, the midfielder thrived for an Ajax team that shocked everyone by getting out of the Champions League's 'group of death', progressing at the expense of the more-fancied Roma and Bayern Munich.

  Unsurprisingly, her performances quickly drew the attention of U.S. Soccer. Yohannes was born in Springfield, Virginia, but had attended a Netherlands youth national team camp more recently than a U.S. one and was in the process of applying for Dutch citizenship, having been in the country since the age of 10. However, she accepted a USWNT call-up in March and made her debut in July, marking it with a goal.

  Still, the teenager is not cap-tied and her long-term international future will be a continued topic of interest throughout the 2024-25 season - even if she is unlikely to grab as many headlines at club level as she did last term, given Ajax has not qualified for the Champions League group stage this year. Yohannes will still be important in her team's quest for domestic success and when its season begins on Sept. 29, at home to PEC Zwolle in the Eredivisie, Hayes will surely be watching.