Insider Notes: NWSL's Christen Press Mess; Antonio Conte Appears Bound for PSG
The club saga of U.S. women’s national team star Christen Press has yet to be resolved. The World Cup winner was traded from Chicago to Houston in January, but Press did not want to go to Houston and has refused to join the team. In February, after the U.S. Soccer election, she spoke to former U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who (despite not having the nominal jurisdiction that would give him such power) proposed that she stay with Houston for a year before joining the NWSL team of her choice next season, including a possible LAFC team.
A source close to Gulati says he thought she agreed, but a source close to Press says she did not. Press is a free agent on the world market, and the source close to her says she now has contract offers from multiple teams in Sweden, where she used to play and whose transfer window is still open, that would allow her to play there until the summer before joining one of Europe’s big teams in France or Germany.
It’s still possible that an NWSL trade for Press could take place between Houston and Utah, but Houston wants a national team player in return and is unlikely to get that.
Press has been a Best XI performer in the league for the last three seasons while with the Chicago Red Stars and has scored 35 goals in four NWSL seasons.
Elsewhere around the world of soccer:
Conte appears PSG-bound
Antonio Conte is still coaching Chelsea for now, but a source close to the situation says it is nearly a done deal that Conte will be the coach of PSG next season. L’Equipe first reported PSG’s interest in Conte.
There has been an understanding for weeks inside Chelsea that Conte will not be back next season, and Unai Emery is a dead man walking at PSG after its elimination from Champions League. There will be questions, however, as to what PSG star Neymar thinks about Conte, who is known as a winner who can nevertheless be extremely tough on his players.
