Melvine Malard has joined Chelsea from Manchester United, reuniting with manager Sonia Bompastor, who helped her leave Réunion as a teenager to pursue football in France. The move reflects Malard’s desire to work at a club with stronger ambitions and support for its women’s team, while she hopes to build a lasting legacy at Chelsea.

Malard, 26, grew up on Réunion, an overseas French department east of Madagascar with fewer than one million people, where girls’ football was uncommon. Bompastor spotted her aged 14 and persuaded her family to let her move more than 5,600 miles to Lyon; Malard has since earned a Ballon d’Or nomination, married in June and embraced her role as a prominent player representing her island.