The secret is out on the next Chelsea women's manager, writes KATHRYN BATTE... but whether Sonia Bompastor will succeed remains to be seen

Sonia Bompastor laughed when she was asked for the second time whether Saturday’s Champions League final had been her last game in charge of Lyon.

The first time had been in French, but because the question that had been asked was not translated, it was later repeated in English.

Some managers would have snapped. She had just lost a European final for the first time as manager and was probably not in the mood to discuss where she will be next season. But she does not seem the type to do so.

She knows as well as the rest of us that it is the worst kept secret in women’s football that she will soon be announced as Emma Hayes’ successor at Chelsea.

Bompastor has been manager of Lyon since 2021, winning seven trophies - including three back-to-back league titles and the 2021-2022 Champions League.

Her team were beaten 2-0 by Barcelona on Saturday but, on another day, could have come out on top. The absence of star striker Ada Hegerberg, who was only fit enough for a place on the bench, proved crucial. Barca dominated possession but both teams had the same number of shots and clear chances. The difference was Barca took two of theirs, even if they needed a bit of luck with a heavy deflection for the first goal.

Bompastor will leave Lyon with a fine record but, in truth, it is hard to measure her success.

She was appointed at a difficult time, replacing Jean-Luc Vasseur in April 2021 after French rivals Paris Saint-Germain had knocked them out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage. Bompastor, who also played for Lyon, had been coach of the club’s academy for eight years. She could not stop PSG from going on to win the French league, which subsequently ended Lyon’s 14-year reign as champions, but she has since re-established their position at the top.

Lyon have won the last three titles and beat Barca in the 2022 Champions League final - which made her the first person to win the competition as both a player and a manager.

But she also inherited a talented squad. She will do the same at Chelsea, but the Women’s Super League is far more competitive, with more teams challenging for trophies than in France.

What may work in Bompastor’s favour is that there will be less of a spotlight on her than her predecessor. As I discussed in this column last week, Hayes had become the unofficial spokesperson for women’s football in England. The same will not be expected of Bompastor.

Hayes worked with Bompastor, who played as a left back, during her time as a football consultant for Washington Freedom in America.

Hayes described her as a ‘brilliant player’ with an ‘unbelievable wand of a left foot.’ She also said she was ‘very quiet’ but ‘cheeky’ and ‘funny’ - traits she argued the media may not always see.

The description Hayes gave of Bompastor mirrors what some of her former players have said. A manager who is passionate, fiercely determined and demands high standards. 

She is also said to be deceptively loud. Dare I say she sounds an awful lot like England manager Sarina Wiegman, who has many of the same traits.

Much like at Lyon, Bompastor will enter a dressing room at Chelsea that is used to winning. The Blues have lifted five successive WSL titles but the one competition that has evaded them is the Champions League. Bompastor’s experience in that competition will be key and it is one of the big reasons Chelsea wanted to bring her in. 

But Bompastor will be responsible for more than just tactics and formations. Hayes spoke regularly about having to manage people and personalities. 

Chelsea’s squad depth meant players who could walk into other starting XI’s did not always make her matchday squad. Bompastor knows all about this from her time at Lyon and it will not faze her.

The switch from Hayes to Bompastor will be fascinating to watch next season. While we are unlikely to get references to Star Wars, geese or poetry in press conferences next season, perhaps in time we will get to see the cheeky and funny side to Bompastor that Hayes promised us is in there.

Brilliant Bronze is Britain's best export

Lucy Bronze said her Barcelona team will go down in history after winning their first ever quadruple. 

But it is not just the team, but Bronze herself who will be remembered in the history books. The defender became the first English player to win five Champions League trophies on Saturday and is now the country’s most decorated player. 

Bronze has not always started for Barca this season, but she put in a fine display against her former club Lyon. There have been a number of discussions recently about who is the best English player to play abroad.

Usually, the answers range from Kevin Keegan, who won the Ballon d’Or while playing for Hamburg, to Steve McManaman, who won two European Cups with Real Madrid. 

But no English player has been more successful abroad than Bronze - who has won 16 trophies across her spells at Lyon and Barcelona. There is no doubt that, for me, she is the greatest English export we have ever seen.

Scotland will play Israel behind closed doors

It is a shame that Scotland’s Euro 2025 qualifier with Israel will have to take place behind closed doors due to security concerns. 

The Scottish FA said its stadium operations team were alerted to the potential for planned disruptions to the game at Hampden Park and therefore made the decision to stop supporters from attending. 

Safety is of course paramount but were other options, such as Police Scotland deploying extra force on the ground, explored? 

The women’s game in Scotland is still far behind England and having games behind closed doors will certainly not help.

Welch delivers impressive refereeing performance

Barcelona far outnumbered Lyon fans at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, with over 40,000 of them making the short trip across Spain. 

English referee Rebecca Welch was not fazed by the whistles she received whenever she gave a decision against the Catalans in what was an impressive performance from the history-making official.