‘I needed this summer’ – what next for Arsenal’s Kelly?Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Chloe Kelly scored five goals in 2025-26, including a hat-trick against West Ham in MarchByJoe BradshawBBC Sport senior journalistPublished50 minutes agoLionesses icon. Fashion trailblazer. Baller League coach. Arsenal title-chaser.Chloe Kelly has plenty to keep her busy – but the conviction she shows on the pitch and in front of the camera has belied trickier times behind the scenes.Her arrival at Arsenal in January 2025 ended a difficult spell at Manchester City, where she felt compelled to go public about wanting to leave.Handed a way out by the club she represented as a junior, she says she was not sure what to expect when signing for Renee Slegers’ side.On a summer day at the Gunners’ training ground – decked in the red-and-white kit she first wore at the age of 12 – the England forward tells BBC Sport how she felt returning to Arsenal.”A bit of a fear of the unknown. I reflect on [the end of her City spell] as a dark moment but one of learning about myself,” she says.Eighteen months on, and now a Champions League and Champions Cup winner, she has made her mark at Arsenal.
Whether in the topless shirt-twirling after scoring in the Euro 2022 final for England, or in the shrug of the shoulders after netting against Italy in the 2025 semi-finals, Kelly exudes self-assurance – but insists that is not always so.
“In moments where I’m confident, I’ll show it, but that’s not always the case,” she says. “In other moments, I need a little arm around the shoulder.”
