Chloe Sarwie: Chelsea’s ambitious teenager who can be the answer to the Lionesses long-standing left-back problem
Sarwie’s exposure to first team football last season came in small doses and so an increase in general minutes and number of opportunities will surely be a target for the 17-year-old during the 2026-27 campaign. Bompastor will hope that she can turn to the teenager as a rotation option, too, in order to keep Baltimore further up the field, where she is most effective.
Before her attention turns to club matters, though, Sarwie’s focus will be on England and the U20 Women’s World Cup, which, despite threats of a UEFA boycott, is set to go ahead as planned on September 5. The Young Lionesses qualified via last year’s U19 Euros, a tournament in which Sarwie didn’t get on the pitch. She’s become a more important player for England in the time since, though, and will have a big part to play in Poland.
Given that context, predicting a leap into the senior England team might feel premature, but Sarwie plays a position of real need in the Lionesses’ set-up. Sarina Wiegman has lacked options at left-back throughout her five years in charge, so there are already some pundits predicting a senior call-up sooner rather than later if the teenager can take strides forward this season.
It’d be another big step for a player who has had to adapt to plenty of new environments in the last 12 months, but the way she speaks, it’s clear Sarwie’s confidence and self-belief are only improving alongside her talent.
“I want to be that player who can amaze people constantly, who is up there as one of the best,” she told the Guardian earlier this year. Keep working hard and Sarwie certainly has the potential to get there.
