Hayes pleased with impact made by January arrival Björn | OneFootball

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes says that she has been pleased with the impact made by Nathalie Björn since her arrival at the club.

The Swedish international defender joined The Blues from Everton in last month’s transfer window.

Björn has slotted straight into the heart of the Chelsea defence and manager Hayes has been pleased, although not surprised, by the player’s seamless transition.

“Of course, we are pleased but it doesn’t surprise us; we knew that she had the qualities to succeed here, we knew that a couple of years ago,” Hayes said when speaking in a Chelsea press conference. “She’s got experience of the WSL and that’s massive, you can’t underestimate that. She’s played all of the opponents, been to all of the stadiums, she knows all of the personnel and I think that has helped her to transition coming into our team.

“She’s got a nice charisma to her as well, cheeky and she’s a great communicator, always giving communication to those lines behind and in-front which is really helpful.

“I’m not surprised whatsoever, I’m looking forward to seeing how she builds on her start.”

Chelsea face Björn’s former club Everton at Kingsmeadow this weekend. The Merseyside club are balancing several injuries but regardless of how they set up, Hayes says that Chelsea will be ready.

She said “They’ve been pretty consistent in the way that they’ve played, regardless of personnel. If they play like we’ve prepared for then yes, it will be easier. Ultimately, we have to be prepared for them to play something different too.

“What we have created is something to say ‘this is how they’ve set out, this is what we will do if they do that, however, if it’s changed and they do that, we do this’. We have prepared the team to be able to cope because ultimately, we don’t really know until kick-off.”

Chelsea’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Everton kicks-off at 6.45pm on Sunday evening. Please click here for the latest ticket information.