Alanna Kennedy & Shelina Zadorsky: Who Are Tottenham Women's New International Signings?
Experienced internationals Alanna Kennedy and Shelina Zadorsky are the latest NWSL players to trade North America for England and the Women’s Super League, having both joined Tottenham Hotspur on loan from Orlando Pride.
With the 2020 NWSL season already over, having been reduced to a mini-tournament in light of the coronavirus crisis, and currently no more action until the 2021 season kicks off next spring, a whole league’s worth of players face the prospect of no football for the next eight months.
Players Moving From NWSL to WSL
Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle are the two highest profile arrivals, joining Manchester City from North Carolina Courage and Washington Spirit respective. Both USWNT midfielders won the World Cup last summer and Lavelle in particular shone at the tournament, finishing with the Bronze Ball.
Still to come, there are now strong rumours that Manchester United are in talks with world class USWNT forwards Tobin Heath and Christen Press. Arsenal, meanwhile, have already sealed the signing of Australian full-back Steph Catley from Reign FC, while Chelsea managed to snatch UCLA graduate and prodigious Canada international Jessie Fleming before any NWSL side.
Spurs Capitalise With Kennedy & Zadorsky Signings
As the 2020/21 WSL season approaches, the trend is only likely to continue and Spurs have taken full advantage by adding two international calibre defensive players to their squad.
It will be a significant boost to the squad’s quality and depth as they look to consolidate and potentially even improve on a seventh place finish from their debut top flight season in 2019/20.
Both Kennedy and Zadorsky have temporary contracts with Spurs until the end of the calendar year, which would cover the first half of the 2020/21 season. But the club retains options to make each deal a permanent one in due course.
Kennedy can play as either a centre-back or defensive midfielder. The Sydney native started her career with home city club Sydney FC in the W-League and has had four spells with the team in total, most recently splitting her time between them and Orlando Pride.
Still only 25, Kennedy has also played for Newcastle Jets, Western Sydney Wanderers, Perth Glory and Melbourne City. She first played club football in the United States with Western New York Flash and has been attached to Orlando Pride since 2017.
Kennedy has been a full Australia international since the age of 17 and is closing in on 90 caps for the Matildas. She has been to two World Cups, two Asian Cups and the 2016 Olympics. Her arrival will add a wealth of experience to a Spurs backline that conceded more goals last season than relegated Liverpool and second bottom Birmingham.
Despite a brief stint Ottawa Fury when she finished playing college soccer at the University of Michigan, Zadorsky got her first real break in Australia when she joined Perth Glory. That was followed by a spell in Sweden with Vittsjo, while she has been in the United States since 2016.
The defender, who has been handed Spurs’ number three shirt, initially signed with Washington Spirit and later moved on to Orlando Pride in time for the 2018 NWSL season.
While Kennedy started 2020 playing for Sydney FC in the W-League during the NWSL off-season, Zadorsky has not played any club football this year as a result of Orlando Pride pulling out of the NWSL Challenge Cup due to several players at the club testing positive for coronavirus.
But like Kennedy, Zadorsky promises to be an asset to Spurs for at least the first half of the new WSL season. She has played over 60 times for Canada, was an Olympic bronze medallist in 2016, a CONCACAF Championship runner-up in 2018 and a member of the 2019 World Cup squad.
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