Everton Women sign Australian International Hayley Raso

It’s good to be an Everton Women’s fan and it just got even better!

Everton Women have signed Australian international Hayley Raso from W-League team Brisbane Roar for an undisclosed fee. The contract has been reported to be a six month deal by various media outlets although Everton did not specify the contract length on their official website.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as though Raso will be joining the squad in time for the Merseyside derby taking place at Goodison Park on 9 February. Once she is done playing in Australia’s Olympic qualifying games in China, she will be joining the Blues in mid-February.

American fans may remember Raso from her days playing for the Portland Thorns in the NWSL from 2016-2019. In August 2018, Raso had suffered a pretty serious back injury that she was able to battle through before being loaned out to the Roar for the 2018-2019 W-League season.

The winger will be joining the WSL with her superstar Matildas teammate Sam Kerr, who plays for Chelsea, and Caitlin Foord is rumoured to be joining Arsenal soon.

England international and new signing Izzy Christiansen and Everton’s top goalscorer Chloe Kelly were both absent from the last game against Manchester City due to knocks they picked up in training and there’s been no updates as to their return dates. Manager Willie Kirk recently told Everton.com about the higher level of competition for starting spots on the squad and it will be interesting to see who will be starting when everyone is fit.

Everton are currently in 7th place but a win against Reading on Sunday could push them back up the table.