Chelsea acquires Angel City star

Chelsea reached an agreement Thursday with Angel City to acquire winger Alyssa Thompson for the richest transfer fee in women’s soccer history.

- By KEvIN BAXTER

ANGEL CITY winger Alyssa Thompson, 20, is transferring to Chelsea on a record $1.65-million fee.

Thompson's transfer fee is a record $1.65 million, a person with knowledge of the agreement not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times. That amount surpasses the $13 million Arsenal paid Liverpool for Canadian Olivia Smith in July. That also tops the record $1.5 million that Mexico’s Tigres received from the Orlando Pride for Lizbeth Ovalle last month.

Angel City declined to comment on Thompson's status, with coach Alexander Straus refusing to even say her name, referring to Thompson as “a certain player” and “a certain transfer” in a conference call with reporters Thursday.

“Questions about a certain transfer or possible transfer, I don’t know,” he said. “This is not my table. I will not answer, I will not comment.”

Torefresh Straus’ memory, Thompson is the club’s all-time scoring leader with 21 goals in all competitions and she ranks sixth in appearances with 74, while her six goals in 16 games this season ranks second to Riley Tiernan’s eight.