Matildas superstar Sam Kerr believes moving to English giants Chelsea will help her game reach new heights.
Kerr ended weeks of speculation by signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the FA Women's Super League outfit who reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.
Chelsea are coached by the highly-respected Emma Hayes and the 26-year-old striker is excited by the challenge of helping her new club get back to the top after a disappointing 2018/19 season where they finished third and missed out on Europe.
"It's exciting, I wanted to come to the club and Emma gained my trust pretty quickly," Kerr told Chelsea's official website.
"The main reason for me was to better myself and expand my knowledge.
"I felt like Chelsea was the right fit for me and I want to help them do something great.
"It appealed to me that there is a challenge ahead like qualifying for the Champions League. Unfortunately they didn't do it last year so hopefully things can change this year."
Kerr is ineligible to play until the European transfer window opens in January and could make her debut against Reading five days into the new year.
The Matildas skipper had been weighing up her club future since opting against returning to the W-League and Perth Glory.
She'd been splitting her time each year between the Glory from October to April, then the Chicago Red Stars in the United States' National Women's Soccer League from April to September.
In joining a league which recently secured a groundbreaking STG10 million ($A19 million) three-year sponsorship deal with Barclays, Kerr will play with and against some of the best players in the world game week in week out.
South Korean playmaker Ji So-yun and England striker Fran Kirby will become her new teammates and among those she'll come up against are Arsenal's Dutch star striker Vivianne Miedema and Manchester City's Ellen White - the joint top scorer at this year's World Cup in France.
"Clubs like this are the biggest clubs in the world so it's an exciting change but also a nerve-wracking change," she said.
"I'm definitely excited to play with Ji, I've played against her a lot of times.
"Obviously Fran Kirby is a big name, but they are all big names.
"They play in great national teams. There are a few Swedish girls and Norwegians ... it's going to be the most internationals I've played with in a team so it's going to be good."
Australian Associated Press
