FFA must match international offers to keep Sam Kerr in W-League
FOOTBALL Federation Australia is now racing the clock to keep one of its biggest stars, Sam Kerr, in the W-League next season.
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FOOTBALL Federation Australia is now racing the clock to keep one of its biggest stars, Sam Kerr, in the W-League next season.
As Kerr weighs up offers from European clubs, including the Premier League, The Daily Telegraph understands Australia’s governing body is in the process of pulling together a counter offer to ensure she stays in the W-League.
Kerr is currently in the US playing with the fourth-placed Chicago Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
She has eight more games in the regular season, plus finals if they qualify, and beyond that her future is unknown.
While Kerr would love to return to Australia for another season in the W-League, most likely with her hometown club of Perth Glory, a whirlwind 12 months have seen her rise to be one of, if not the, best female footballer in the world, which means her signature is now in high demand.
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On top of missing the marketing potential Kerr adds as the FFA looks to grow women’s football through the W-League, not being able to secure the services of their biggest player would also be a huge blow to the FFA’s bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Much has been done in the past to bring big name players to the A-League.
Robbie Fowler, Alessandro del Piero and Shinji Ono were big name imports and FFA worked hard to bring homegrown stars Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill to the local competition.
They were all a huge boost to the men’s competition, as Kerr is to the women’s.
Her star power is undeniable.
This week Kerr was named Women’s Footballer of the Year by Professional Footballers Australia. She took out a second consecutive Julie Dolan medal earlier this year, as a co-winner with Clare Polkinghorne, and was 2017 AFC Women’s Footballer of the Year.
She was among 10 players short-listed for Best FIFA Women’s Player 2017 but was controversially overlooked to be one of three finalists.
She has been nominated for Best International Women’s Soccer Player and Best NWSL Player at this year’s ESPYs, an annual awards ceremony run by US network ABC that stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly. Ben Simmons and Stephanie Gilmore are the only two other Australians nominated for ESPYs, which will be held on July 18.
Kerr is also the current Young Australian of the Year.
On top of all of that she has deals with Powerade and Nike and featured alongside Ronaldo and Neymar in their campaign for their Mercurials.
The FFA is expected to table an offer to Kerr by the end of this week.