Lloyd will play for English club, then join team
Carli Lloyd will not begin the National Women’s Soccer League season with the Dash, instead choosing to sign a shortterm contract with English club Manchester City.
Lloyd, the two-time reigning world player of the year, is in England now. An official announcement is likely Wednesday.
The Football Association Women’s Super League Spring Series goes through May, and the UEFA Champions League final is scheduled for June 1. Manchester City has advanced to the quarterfinals of that tournament.
Once the Spring Series has concluded and Manchester City has won or been eliminated from the Champions League, Lloyd will return to the Dash. The NWSL begins a 24-game schedule in mid-April, so Lloyd should be back for at least the
entire second half of the season.
Dash coach Randy Waldrum said Lloyd’s absence does not change what the team expects it can accomplish.
“The good thing is we have depth in the midfield and up front,” Waldrum said. “We haven’t been building this team around one player. Sometimes you can get caught doing that, but we haven’t done that.”
Lloyd’s deal is similar to the one fellow U.S. women’s national team star Alex Morgan signed with French club Lyon in December. Morgan also could return to the Orlando Pride during the NWSL season.
Lloyd, 34, and Morgan are not the only major U.S. women’s team stars to leave the NWSL since the end of the 2016 season. Crystal Dunn in January left the Washington Spirit for Chelsea, also in the FAWSL.
The Dash will not receive a transfer fee or otherwise be compensated for Lloyd’s departure. NWSL clubs do not have any control over the status of the contracted national team players they roster because the player salaries are paid by U.S. Soccer.
“It is her decision, and there is not anything from a league standpoint that we can do to keep her from going,” Waldrum said. “We wish her all the best and we’ll move forward.”
Lloyd has played with the Dash for two seasons, though she missed significant time because of an injury, the Women’s World Cup in 2015 and the Summer Olympics in 2016.
She is the captain of the U.S. women’s national team and has scored 96 goals in 232 appearances.
Lloyd had five goals and three assists in seven matches for the Dash last season. She missed 13 matches because of a knee injury suffered in the second game. In seven appearances in 2015, she had four goals and three assists.
The Dash acquired Lloyd in a trade after the 2014 season.