Kerr injury threatens to ruin Hayes' fairytale ending

A serious knee injury sustained by Sam Kerr comes at a terrible time for both her and Chelsea.

Kerr, 30, was gearing up to play a major role in the Blues' run-in as they compete on four fronts in the second half of the season.

And the West Londoners have particular motivation to make it a memorable 2024 as legendary boss Emma Hayes departs at the end of the campaign.

We analyse how Kerr's absence affects their chances after she went under the knife yesterday to fix a season-ending ACL issue.

Prolific scorer

Kerr's goalscoring impact has been relatively limited in the Women's Super League this season after the calf injury that affected her World Cup campaign with Australia meant she was phased into action.

But four league goals in nine appearances is hardly a bad return and she added five more in the Champions League, ensuring the Blues are on track for continental success.

Kerr has won the WSL Golden Boot in two of her three full campaigns since signing in November 2019, including an impressive haul of 21 in 2020-21.

The absence of her goals alone leaves needing to find an immediate solution — starting with the visit of West Ham in the Women's FA Cup. 

Hayes, 47, said: "I'm gutted for her and gutted for the team. These things happen in football and she knows that.

"‘Our focus has to be on the fit players — Sam would expect me to say nothing less. 

"We have a quality squad and the challenge for me as a coach is to find those solutions. I trust in our squad."

Team player

There is more to Kerr's skill set than finding the net, including the way she combines with her team-mates.

Lauren James' game, for example, continues to improve and is aided by the way she uses the space opened up by Kerr's clever movement.

The Australian international ranks fifth in the WSL for chances created per game this season.

And the fact Chelsea team-mates Guro Reiten and Fran Kirby rank first and second in that metric sums up what a superb unit the Blues possess.

Ready-made replacements

That stat does also prove Chelsea can cope without their star attacker.

James, 22, is one of the stand-out talents in world football and is capable of filling the void.

Kirby and Reiten are very creative, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Mia Fishel have shown glimpses of potential in limited minutes and Aggie Beever-Jones has the best goals-per-minute ratio in the WSL.

Former Chelsea defender Gilly Flaherty told the BBC: "Kirby is a goalscorer, though you have to manage her minutes and she hasn't really played much as a No9 since Kerr came to Chelsea.

"It's a great chance for Beever-Jones. We've seen her come off the bench and get the goals this season.

"I don't think you could sign any player to replace Sam but it will be interesting to see if they buy another striker to cover the load."

Serial winner

Chelsea would not only struggle to replace Kerr's ability in the transfer market but also her title-winning experience.

She has won 10 trophies with the Blues as well as multiple more in her club career across Australia and America.

And as Hayes prepares to depart the club with a bang this summer, she will have been relying on her decorated forward.

Instead, the Chelsea boss must ensure the rest of her squad hold their nerve to secure the fairytale ending she craves.