Chelsea Women are set to confirm Sonia Bompastor as their new head coach next week.
Bompastor — who has won the Champions League as a player and manager — will replace Emma Hayes, who has left the club after 12 years in charge to take over the USWNT.
Bompastor could win a second European title with her Lyon side taking on Barcelona in the final in Bilbao on Saturday.
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It has been agreed any official announcement of her appointment with the Women’s Super League (WSL) club won’t come before the showpiece game.
Bompastor will also bring her long-term assistant, Camille Abily, with her.
There will be further appointments after it was confirmed Denise Reddy, Stuart Searle, Bart Caubergh, Ferdia O’Hanrahan and Cameron Meighan would all be following Hayes to the U.S.
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The Athletic reported in February Chelsea had offered Bompastor a contract after she was identified as the chosen candidate to replace Hayes.
Hayes announced in November she was leaving Chelsea and her appointment as the USWNT’s head coach was later confirmed.
Bompastor, who is of Portuguese descent and speaks English, was promoted from her role within the Lyon academy to the women’s head coach after the sacking of Jean-Luc Vasseur in April 2021.
In her first full season in charge, Bompastor led the French club to a double as they won the Division 1 Feminine and the Women’s Champions League. Lyon won the league with 21 victories and one draw in 22 games and then beat holders Barcelona 3-1 in the final of the Champions League.
Lyon retained their league title the following campaign but fell at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League, losing a penalty shootout to Chelsea after a 2-2 aggregate tie over two legs.
They play defending champions Barcelona on Saturday.
Victory would seal a double after they secured the French league title with a win over Paris Saint-Germain last Friday.
Hayes secured a fifth WSL title in a row — and seventh overall — with victory in her final game in charge last weekend.
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(Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)