In a stunning move, the Washington Spirit have traded USWNT star midfielder Rose Lavelle to OL Reign...sort of. With reports linking Lavelle to a move to Europe in the very near future, the Spirit have effectively traded her NWSL playing rights to the Reign. In exchange, Washington will get $100,000 in allocation money, the Reign’s natural 2022 first round draft pick, and there are conditions built into the deal that could be triggered when (or if) Lavelle returns to NWSL that would send more allocation money to the Spirit.
The Athletic’s Meg Linehan recently reported that Manchester City had made a formal offer to Lavelle, along with USWNT teammate Sam Mewis.