Chloe Kelly accuses Manchester City of trying to ‘assassinate my character’ after Arsenal transfer

Chloe Kelly has accused Manchester City of trying to “assassinate my character” following her deadline day move to Arsenal.

England international Kelly, 27, will spend the remainder of the season in north London after finalising a loan move on Thursday evening.

Kelly had released a statement on Wednesday to reveal she would not be at City beyond the end of her contract in the summer and stating her mental wellbeing had been impacted after being “dictated to whom I can and can’t join”. She added she now just wanted to “be happy again”.

Following the move, which was announced by both clubs at the 11pm deadline, Kelly posted a further statement detailing accusations against City and registering her disappointment at the nature of them.

“So disappointed to find out tonight that people at the club are briefing journalists against me if I am to sign at a club before the window shuts,” she wrote on Instagram.

“They’ve called reporters to assassinate my character and tried to plant negative stories about me in the football media. Of which is false accusations.

“Women should look after each other, and build each other up… not shoot them down to protect their employers. To those responsible, I am disappointed in this.

“As said in my previous statement I just want to find happiness again.”

has approached Manchester City for comment.

Kelly has been limited to a bit part at City this season after losing her starting place towards the end of last term. She has featured just six times in the Women’s Super League (WSL).

reported earlier this month that, according to sources with knowledge of the matter who wish to remain anonymous to protect relationships, there had been a breakdown in relationship with City manager Gareth Taylor.

Asked about Kelly’s exit and her social media comments, Taylor said at a press conference: “We never like to hear that a player hasn’t had a good experience of being at the club. And I’m sure that’s not been the case for the whole period. Maybe this more recent period, from not playing.

“But we try to support every single player that we work with in order to help the team. But we’re in a selection based business where difficult decisions have to be made for the betterment of the team and sometimes people and players can fall on the sharp end of that

“What I would say is that when you take yourself out of the situation and look at the move that’s been achieved — it’s a rival and they made the best offer. So we’re certainly not standing in the way of a player being able to go and make a move that they want to make.”

Kelly joined City from Everton in 2020 and went on to win the FA and League Cup during her four and a half years at the club.

She provided a career high 10 goals and 12 assists during the 2020-21 WSL campaign before being sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

She returned from injury to make the England squad for the 2022 European Championship and scored the winner against Germany in the final.

Kelly is ineligible to play against City in the WSL on Sunday and the League Cup semi-final on Thursday.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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