Man City in advanced talks to sign USWNT midfielder Sam Coffey from Portland Thorns in bid to boost WSL title hopes

According to The Guardian, the 27-year-old has been granted permission to fly to Manchester to complete the move, which is 'close to completion'. Coffey has 24 months left on her Portland contract after three years with the American outfit. City are believed to have tracked the former Penn State Nittany Lions player for quite some time as they seek to win their first WSL title since 2016. Coffey was not named in the USWNT's 26-player squad on Thursday for a training camp in California this month, and the report adds that this is related to her being given permission to travel to England.

Coffey made her debut for her country in 2022 and since then has scored five goals in 42 caps. When former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes took over as the USWNT's latest coach in 2024, she couldn't speak highly enough of the defensive midfielder. 

She said last summer, "They don’t make players like Sam Coffey anymore. She's in the form of her life. She's getting better with every game and I think she's finding her flow. I feel like everybody is not just trusting the process, but they're carrying out all the things we ask them to do. And know everybody showed themselves so so well."

Coffey was also lauded by team-mate Claire Hutton, who has played alongside her in a double pivot for the United States. 

"We have trust in each other," Hutton said of Coffey. "We have trust in different people having the ball. And I think that just goes to show that the way Emma is creating the team culture in the chemistry between us is unmatched."

Since the WSL's inception, Chelsea have won the league eight times, Arsenal thrice, Liverpool twice, and City once - just under 10 years ago. They have finished runners up on six occasions and after 11 matches this season, they hold a six-point cushion over defending champions Chelsea in second. And perhaps the person who can mastermind a WSL crown is Andree Jeglertz, who has become the first head coach in the division's history to be named manager of the month three times in a row. He has equalled the record for the most awards across a single season, shared with Hayes, Marc Skinner, and Sonia Bompastor. 

On this accolade, he said: "I feel very honoured to have won this award again and would like to thank everyone who voted. We’ve started the season well, and the credit must go to my players and staff, who’ve worked tremendously hard to get us into this position. It’s a privilege to work alongside all of them, and we’re all very excited to return to action and hopefully pick up where we left off before the break."

Table-toppers City return to WSL action on Sunday at home to Everton. It remains to be seen when Coffey will be officially unveiled as a City player. If she doesn't feature in this contest, the midfielder could be in place for their FA Cup clash away at Bournemouth on 18 January.