Chelsea close in on highly-rated youngster Brooke Aspin, 18, from Bristol City
Chelsea close in on highly rated youngster Brooke Aspin, 17, from Bristol City – with WSL champions to loan her back for next season
- Brooke Aspin helped Bristol City get promoted back to the WSL last year
- Mail Sport understands that the young defender will be loaned out to the Robins
Chelsea are on the verge of signing highly rated English defender Brooke Aspin from Bristol City.
Aspin, who captained England’s U17 side, came through the Robins academy and helped the club win promotion back to the Women’s Super League last season.
The centre-back cannot sign for the Blues until she turns 18 on July 1, but a deal is close and Mail Sport understands the two clubs are working towards a deal that will see Aspin loaned out to Lauren Smith’s side for the 2023-24 season .
The defender missed the start of last season due to a bone infection that later caused sepsis.
In September, Aspin said: ‘On August 22, I went to the hospital with terrible pain in my groin.
Brooke Aspin came through Robins’ academy and helped the club gain promotion
The youngster has sparked interest from major WSL sides and captained England’s U17 side
Emma Hayes’ all-conquering Chelsea secured a third successive league and FA Cup double
Long story short, after many MRI scans, blood tests, and X-rays, I found out I had some sort of sepsis, an infection of the bone, and just about anything else you can think of.
“I was finally discharged on September 13, which means I spent three weeks and one day in the hospital. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard because yes, it was probably one of the hardest things I’ve been through, but now that I’m home I finally feel like I’m one step closer.
“I’m taking it slowly, one step at a time, to get back to where I was. It’s going to be a long road, but I’ve got the best people around me and I’m so ready to get back to being the player I was.’
Aspin missed a total of six months of football, but returned to action in March and went on to score in the match that sealed promotion to the top flight.
The youngster is highly regarded, with a coach describing her as a future England captain. Aspin played nearly every game of the 2021-2022 Robins campaign despite only being 16 before coming through a testing second season of senior football.