The ink had barely dried on the paperwork for the blockbuster transfer of forward Alyssa Thompson to Chelsea, from Angel City FC, before U.S. women's national team coach Emma Hayes was in New York to address the NWSL's board of governors.
Hayes already knew that some NWSL executives were suggesting she was telling USWNT players that they needed to play in Europe. Thompson's move, driven by Chelsea's aggressive pursuit of the winger, was a tipping point that gave the longstanding rumors new life and set in motion a certain degree of panic inside NWSL circles.