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Chelsea swoop for Perisset and Buchanan

Chelsea FC Women are delighted to announce the signings of French international Ève Perisset and Canadian defender Kadeisha Buchnanan, each on a three-year deal, ahead of the 2022-23 season.  

Joining from French Division One side Bordeaux on 1st July, 27-year-old Perisset has signed with the Blues until summer 2025 and will wear shirt number 15.

The versatile defender started her professional career at Lyon in 2012 where she stayed until the end of the 2015-16 season before making the move to Paris St Germain in 2016. While at Lyon, she won the league and the Coupe de France Feminine four times while also lifting the latter at PSG for the fifth time. Perisset signed for Bordeaux in June 2020 where she played both full-back positions and in midfield with 45 appearances for the Girondins and over 125 D1 appearances across her career.

On the international stage, Perisset brings a wealth of experience to Kingsmeadow with 34 caps to her name since her senior debut against Brazil in 2016, most significantly representing Les Bleues in the UEFA European Championships in 2017 and the FIFA World Cup in 2019. With her home nation, she has won the Tournoi de France and the SheBelieves Cup. The French national has been selected for this summer’s Euros and is currently training with the squad in France.

The experienced international also has significant European experience, having played in the last nine UEFA Champions League tournaments representing Bordeaux, Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon where she went on to take the winners medal in the 2015-16 season.

Upon signing, Perisset told the Chelsea FC website: “It’s a fantastic honour to join Chelsea and to be the first French female player to become a Blue! I am very thankful for the opportunity that has been given to me.

“The time was right for me to make this big move to London and join the English Super League and I cannot wait to meet the team and the fans later this summer at Kingsmeadow and at the famous Stamford Bridge!”

Buchanan has spent the past five-and-a-half-years at Lyon where she most recently won the UEFA Women’s Champions League against Barcelona, securing her fifth Champions League trophy with the French side. The Canadian defender has had an illustrious career to date proving to be one of Europe’s best, with 130 appearances and nine goals to her name at Lyon and a further eight domestic trophies secured, including winning the Coupe de France three times and the French league title an impressive five times.

Prior to moving to France, Buchanan spent four years playing college football in the States with West Virginia Mountaineers where she made 98 appearances and established herself as one of the top players in the NCAA.

Buchanan also brings a wealth of experience having started her international career at just 14 years old when recruited into the Canadian youth programme in 2010. Her first silverware came in the form of a silver medal at the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship in Guatemala and she then went on to win the Young Player award at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The centre-back made her senior debut for her country in 2013 against China, becoming one of the youngest international players at the time. Since then, she has gone on to make 118 appearances and receive a host of individual honours, being named Canadian Player of the Year three times, nominated for the prestigious FIFA Ballon d’Or and featuring in the FIFPro Women’s World XI. Last year, Buchanan also took home gold at the 2020 Olympics.

On her arrival to Chelsea, Buchanan commented to the Chelsea FC website: “I am coming to Chelsea with the same ambition I always had - win trophies and become the best in the world. The club has everything in order for us to compete in every competition and it’s time to bring a Champions League trophy to London.

“I'm hoping to bring my experience to the team and continue on the successful pathway that the club has been on for the past seasons. I can’t wait to join my new team mates and the coaching staff on this journey.”

The club has also confirmed that Emma Hayes’ squad will take part in this summer’s Women’s International Champions Cup (WICC) in Portland, USA.

Following the Blues' triumphant end to the season, winning both the Barclays FA Women’s Super League for the third consecutive year and the Vitality Women’s FA Cup for the second year in a row, the squad will head to Portland, Oregon to face three champions from around the world with the aim to be named the world’s best club team.

The tournament, organised by Relevant Sports Group, will take place between August 17-20 at Providence Park in Portland, home of the Portland Thorns. The tournament will consist of four matches played as two double-headers. Chelsea will take on Champions League and D1 Feminine winners Olympique Lyonnais in the opening European round, with the NWSL Shield and Challenge Cup winners, Portland Thorns, up against the Torneo Grita Mexico Apertura 2021 winners, C.F. Monterrey, in an all-North American battle.

This will set up a European vs. North American final on 20th August when the winners of the first double header meet, while the clubs that lose in the first double header will play in the third place match on the same day. Portland will be looking to defend their WICC title after previously defeating defending champions Lyon in a thrilling 1-0 victory.

The WICC matches will be televised live in both English and Spanish on the ESPN networks and will be broadcast globally in over 140 territories. Tickets will go on sale on 21 June and will be available on the ICC website with updates available via @ICCWomen and Instagram and Twitter.