Defending NWSL champions Gotham FC announced the signing of Norwegian midfielder Guro Reiten on Thursday, a major arrival just two days ahead of the team’s first game of the 2026 NWSL season.

Reiten will join Gotham on loan through July, which is when her contract with six-time reigning English champions Chelsea was due to expire. Reiten has already signed a pre-contract with Gotham FC that will then run through the 2029 NWSL season.

– NWSL 2026 mega-preview: Predictions for all 16 teams
– NWSL 2026 season: How to watch, soccer schedule on ESPN
– NWSL ambition rankings

“Guro is a player of exceptional quality who has consistently performed at the highest levels of the game,” Gotham FC general manager Yael Averbuch West said in a statement.

“Her experience competing for major trophies with Chelsea and her impact with the Norwegian national team will bring valuable leadership and attacking creativity to our squad. We’re excited to welcome her to Gotham.”

The abrupt move comes with Chelsea sitting third in England’s Women’s Super League, nine points off Manchester City’s pace. Reiten, a creative attacking player, has seen her playing time decrease this season.

A tearful Reiten bid farewell to Chelsea in a video posted on the club’s social media channels.

“Everything has an end and this is my end here at Chelsea. I still remember Emma [Hayes] called me six-and-a-half-years ago and convinced me to join the club and I was terrified,” she said.

“Scared I wasn’t good enough, scared to move away from my family, but little did I know I was about to get a new family.

“It’s been an absolute honor and privilege to wear the badge and to represent you.”

Guro Reiten has today completed a move to NWSL side Gotham FC.

Everyone at Chelsea would like to sincerely thank Guro for her huge contributions to our success over the last six-and-a-half years, and we wish her well during the next chapter of her career. 💙 pic.twitter.com/SWJ7fcm1dx

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 12, 2026

She has long been known as a talented, creative player, earning recognition on the team of the year twice in England, and externally, including placing in ESPN FC’s 50 best women’s players of 2024.

She has 21 goals in 108 appearances for Norway and has appeared in the last two World Cups.

“I’m really excited to join Gotham FC and grateful for the opportunity to be part of this club,” Reiten said in a statement. “Gotham has built something special over the past few years, and there’s clear ambition here.

“I’m looking forward to working hard, learning and doing everything I can to help the team succeed.”

At Chelsea, Reiten registered 59 goals and 44 assists in 207 appearances across all competitions. She helped Chelsea win six league titles, four FA Cups and three League Cups while appearing in various attacking roles.

She also helped Chelsea reach the 2021 UEFA Women’s Champions League final, where the Blues lost to Barcelona.

Reiten arrived at Chelsea in 2019 after a decorated domestic career.

Gotham opens their NWSL title defense on Saturday against expansion club Boston Legacy FC (12:30 p.m. ET, ABC/Disney+/ESPN App).

Trent Alexander-Arnold said there was an expectation Real Madrid would “get battered” by Manchester City on Wednesday, praising the team’s “mentality” and “perfectly executed gameplan” in their 3-0 win in the Champions League round of 16.

Federico Valverde‘s stunning first-half hat trick put Madrid on top at the Bernabéu, with Vinícius Júnior‘s failure to convert a second-half penalty the only negative for coach Álvaro Arbeloa’s side ahead of next week’s second leg in Manchester.

Madrid have been in inconsistent form since Arbeloa took charge in January, with four defeats — to Albacete in the Copa del Rey and Benfica in the league phase, and consecutive LaLiga losses to Osasuna and Getafe — raising the prospect of the 15-time European champions ending the season trophyless.

“[There was] a lot of the noise when the draw happened and leading up to this game,” Alexander-Arnold told TNT Sports. “Especially with how we’ve been playing the last few games, and the results we’ve had. A lot of people just expected us to get battered tonight.

“But we showed the mentality. It doesn’t matter what injuries you’ve got, what players are out. This competition means a lot to the club and us as players understand that… We executed the gameplan perfectly in the first half.”

Madrid went into the City first leg without stars Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham, as well as Éder Militão, Rodrygo, Álvaro Carreras, David Alaba and Dani Ceballos.

“People will say that they’re favourites, and going off results and the way both teams have been playing, it could have been true,” Alexander-Arnold said. “But when you get to knockout football in the Champions League, anyone can beat anyone… We scored our goals very very ruthlessly.”

– From non-league to Champions League: Man City’s Semenyo joins exclusive club
– Jeremy Doku warns Real Madrid: Man City ‘still believe’
– Transfer rumors, news: Arsenal join Man City in race for Newcastle defender

Madrid are four points behind rivals Barcelona in the LaLiga title race, while their form in Europe — losing to Liverpool, City and Benfica in the league phase — seeing them rated by many as being outside the favourites to win the Champions League.

“I think the size of the game is the main thing,” Alexander-Arnold said. “I don’t want to say that other games are less important, but when there’s so much hype around a game and so many eyes on it, as a player you know you need to perform. Especially when you play for a club like this, there are no excuses, you have to win.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NC State coach Will Wade said Thursday that he is determined to “win big” with the Wolfpack while shrugging off speculation that he might return to LSU if that job becomes open.

“Look, we’re going to win and we’re going to win big at NC State,” Wade said after an 81-74 quarterfinal loss to No. 10 Virginia during the ACC tournament. “That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we’re going to do moving forward. We have the resources we need. We have what we need, and it’s on me and my staff to get the job done.”

The Tigers (15-17) have one winning record in four seasons under Matt McMahon. LSU lost to Kentucky in Wednesday’s first round of the SEC tournament.

Wade had coached LSU for five seasons from 2017 to 2022, a run that included three NCAA tournament bids and a regular-season SEC title. But he was fired because of allegations of recruiting violations, rooted in a federal corruption probe of the sport that became public in 2017.

Wade made a successful climb back to prominence with two NCAA bids in as many seasons during a 58-win run with McNeese. He took over the Wolfpack program last spring with a confident news conference promising quick results.

Asked Thursday about online speculation linking him to a potential LSU opening, Wade responded with a question: “Is the job open there? … Listen, let me be very clear: I’m excited at NC State.”

“I was hired at NC State to do a job. This wasn’t going to take one year,” said Wade, who then motioned toward Wolfpack athletic director Boo Corrigan at the back of the news conference room. “I’ve already met with our administration about next year and some of the changes that we need to make and some of the things that we need to do to put this program where it deserves long term.

“I’m not on social media. I’m not into gossip. I’m not into any of that sort of stuff.”

NC State (20-13) appears headed to the NCAAs in Wade’s first season, though the Wolfpack stumbled down the stretch by losing six of seven to close the regular season. The team beat Pittsburgh to open the ACC tournament Wednesday, then hung within reach the entire way against a Virginia team that had led each of the two regular-season meetings by 27 or more points.

“Look, this year hasn’t gone exactly how we wanted it to,” Wade said. “But we’re going to rally and we’re going to work hard, and we’re going to have a team next year that’s ready to roll.”