American star Morgan bolts NWSL for French powerhouse
Forward hopes move to Lyon helps her become the world’s best
With the lure of Champions League soccer proving too strong to resist, American forward Alex Morgan is joining European champion Lyon in a move she hopes will help her become the world’s best player.
Lyon announced Tuesday that Morgan is arriving from the Orlando Pride on a six-month deal with an option for her to play a further season.
The 27-year-old Morgan wants to make the most of her career as she enters her peak years.
“I hope that this change will help push my game to another level,” she said. “I want to be the best player in the United States ... the best player in the world.”
Morgan has made 120 appearances for the U.S. women’s team and scored 73 goals, winning an Olympic gold medal in 2012 and the 2015 World Cup.
But she has never sampled European club soccer’s intense rivalries and this was a chance too good to miss, especially considering threetime European champion Lyon is among the best teams around.
“Training with these incredible athletes each day and learning a unique style of play is exactly what I need,” Morgan said on The Players Tribune website. “I will also be immersed in a soccer culture that I believe is precisely what I need at this point in my career. It has always been a dream of mine to ‘live’ soccer and to compete in the Champions League.”
Lyon is in second place in the league this season, three points behind unbeaten Paris Saint-Germain. A 1-0 defeat to PSG Saturday was Lyon’s first league loss in more than two years.
Morgan will form what looks on paper like a devastating attacking partnership with French striker Eugenie Le Sommer, who has 16 goals in 12 games this season and 186 overall since joining Lyon in 2010.
Morgan also said on The Players Tribune that she made the decision during a “belated honeymoon that I recently took with my husband Servando in Europe.” After “a few weeks of deliberation” Morgan said the decision to join Lyon became evident.
“Lyon is a team that’s world-renowned for excellence, with a roster that includes many of the greatest players in the world. In fact, Lyon won all three possible titles last season: Champions League, French league and the Coupe de France,” she wrote. “They are committed to growing women’s soccer and provide the women with firstclass facilities and an unparalleled training environment on par with the men’s team.”
Morgan and other players from the U.S. national team are allocated to National Women’s Soccer League teams by the U.S. Soccer Federation, which pays their salaries. The players’ labour contract expires Dec. 31.
Alleging wage discrimination, Morgan and four other U.S. national team players filed a complaint in April with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the USSF.
Her move to club soccer in Europe will have a short-term effect on the Pride.
“We are obviously disappointed that Alex will miss the beginning of the Pride season, but understand her wishes to play in Europe and we look forward to her rejoining her teammates after Lyon’s season,” said Phil Rawlins, president of Orlando City SC, the MLS club affiliated with the Pride.