Los Angeles native Christen Press will return home to play for the NWSL's expansion side Angel City FC. The LA club acquired Press' rights from Racing Louisville on Monday.
Louisville will receive Angel City's first-round pick in 2022, $75,000 of allocation money and full roster protection from Angel City in the 2022 expansion draft. The deal was announced on Monday, Aug. 23, just hours after the NWSL's first Californian club signed English manager Freya Combee.
Press arrives at sunny Los Angeles after spending the 2020-21 FA WSL season in cloudy Manchester. The 32-year-old scored four times in 14 matches for Manchester United, helping the Red Devils to a fourth-place finish.
Despite not winning a title in England, Press won a bronze medal with the USA at the women's football tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She scored the fourth of six goals against New Zealand in a 6-1 win in group play.
Press joins ACFC from Racing Louisville without playing a single game for the Kentuckian club.
As for Coombe, she will coach NJ/NY Gotham FC after for two more games before making her move across the United States. At first, it was reported that she would be spending the rest of the season with the club.
According to The Athletic's Megan Linehan, the deal was respectful. ACFC requested permission from Gotham FC to interview the Coombe. The hire was executed by newly appointed Angel City Sporting Director Eniola Aluko.
Coombe's biggest accomplishments with Sky Blue FC and NJ/NY Gotham FC were reaching the Challenge Cup semi-final in 2020 and the final in 2021. She spent two years managing in New Jersey.
