Which signing are Chelsea fans most excited about - Bronze, Bartel, Baltimore or Jean-Francois? | OneFootball

New head coach Sonia Bompastor has been the mastermind behind Chelsea’s very busy summer transfer window, playing an instrumental role in building the club's new era.

The west London club will be entering the upcoming 2024/25 Barclays Women’s Super League campaign as reigning champions, after clinching victory last season on goal difference in a nail-biting battle against Manchester City.

However, it was a bittersweet celebration for the club, knowing it would be their last season headed up by legendary manager Emma Hayes. During her twelve-year reign, Hayes helped Chelsea secure a tonne of silverware, seeing her become one of the most influential managers in the women’s game.

Of course, with such a big departure comes a lot of uncertainty for the future of the club and whether they'd be able to continue their winning ways. But concerns have somewhat eased since the club kicked off their pre-season tour in the US, with new coach Bompastor securing her first victory at the helm with a 3-1 win over Gotham FC.

The friendly was also the first time the club’s new signings were given their first opportunity to shine. It became clear quite quickly from Chelsea’s first signing this summer that their priority was injecting some youth into their squad.

In July, they announced the arrival of Spanish midfielder Julia Bartel from FC Barcelona, who brings with her confidence, leadership skills and plenty of domestic and international experience. The club followed this up with the signing of Sandy Baltimore, another young, promising player, but this time brought in to bolster their frontline as a forward.

Lucy Bronze has committed to Chelsea for the next two years / Quality Sport Images/GettyImages

At just 20 years old, she’s already made over 200 appearances and put on an impressive performance during her debut in New York, coming off the bench in the second half. Baltimore will also be joined by PSG teammate Oriane Jean-Francois as the Blues, and she's expected to work in tandem with Bartel in midfield.

However, there’s no disputing that the signing that sent shockwaves through the women’s football community was the club’s announcement that England international Lucy Bronze was making a return to the WSL.

The accomplished defender joins the Blues with three WSL titles already under her belt, and five Women’s Champions League wins, all while making over 400 senior appearances in her career.

At 32 years old, she might be a little older than the majority of Chelsea’s new signings, but it’s understood Bompastor was after Bronze for a while when she took over having worked closely with her at Lyon, being able to see first-hand the impact her experience can bring to a team.

The club’s squad has seen the introduction of a combination of high-profile and emerging players this summer, all that will likely complement one another on the pitch, and hopefully help them secure that missing Champions League trophy from their cabinet.

But, to shed some light on which player has got the most people talking, 90min conducted a poll in our dedicated Chelsea fan WhatsApp channel to ask which signing they are most excited about.

Of the 3,781 votes surveyed at the time of writing, Bronze’s experience and legend status thrilled fans the most, seeing her top the list with a 76.8% majority vote, equating to 2,900 votes. Although the younger signings haven’t delighted fans as much, there is still an air of excitement surrounding their arrival.

Baltimore polled 8.6% of the vote, totalling 326 votes, closely followed by Bartel who represented 8%. Jean-Francois came in last, securing 6.5% of votes. However, due to the age of these players and their limited experience playing in the WSL, it's likely that by the end of the season they will be firm fan favourites, once they've had the chance to show what they are capable of at Chelsea.

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