Sam Kerr is staying at Chelsea, having agreed an extension to her contract, which was set to expire in the summer. The Australia forward will miss the remainder of the season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament on a mid-season training camp in Morocco but the news that she is staying is a huge bonus for Chelsea, who will lose their coach, Emma Hayes, to the US women’s national team in the summer. Kerr joined Chelsea midway through the 2019-20 season and has scored 99 goals in 128 games for them. Since recruiting the talismanic Kerr, who missed most of her home World Cup in 2023 with a calf injury, Chelsea have secured nine trophies, winning the league four times, the FA Cup three times and the League Cup twice. The 30-year-old has also won the Golden Boot twice, was runner-up to Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí at the Ballon d’Or awards last year and finished second on the Guardian’s list of the top 100 female footballers in 2023 after being third in 2021 and 2022. Kerr’s injury was a big blow for Chelsea, who are attempting to win their fifth consecutive WSL title and a first Champions League. The Australian had started to regain her best form before the injury in Morocco. Chelsea are top of the WSL halfway through the season, three points ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal. In the first league game after the winter break they beat Manchester United 3-1 with Lauren James scoring a hat-trick. After the injury Hayes said the club would do everything to support the 30-year-old Australian through her recovery. “I’m gutted for her and gutted for the team, these things happen in football and she knows that,” Hayes said. “The important thing is that we are here to support her and the recovery and rehab begins today. “Injuries do happen in football, they happen in men’s and women’s football. Sometimes we have a confirmation bias around ACL injuries, but they happen in the sport, and regardless of why they happen. Today is about letting Sam know that she’s with her Chelsea family and we’ll look after her.” Hayes added that she also believed in the depth of the squad for the rest of the season. “Sam would expect me to say nothing less, our focus has to be on the fit players. We have a quality squad and the challenge for me as a coach is to find those solutions. I trust in our squad, while the focus and the attention has to be on the players who are here.” Kerr is also set to miss the Olympics in Paris this year should Australia qualify. The final qualification round will take place in February.