Guro Reiten interview: Gotham move, Chelsea memories and new perspectives – thanks to motherhood
admin_news
Two weeks earlier, the 31-year-old signed a three-year contract with NWSL club Gotham FC, after seven trophy-laden years with Women’s Super League champions Chelsea.
The Norway international, considered one of the best left-footed wingers in the world, will join the team on loan through July, before signing a multi-year deal to 2029.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Reiten tells The Athletic on a video call. “I got some incredible memories (at Chelsea), but I felt like it was now or never, because I want to go somewhere where I can play at my best level.
“I normally go to different clubs and spend a lot of time there, so, hopefully, I’ve got a few more good years in me.”
Moving to New Jersey is Reiten’s way of stepping out of her comfort zone. Her signing with the 2025 league winners came as a shock when announced on March 12, but it was a calculated move by Gotham, whose motto remains “always building, never finished.”
The team knew Reiten’s contract expired in the summer. They took advantage of their trip to London in January for the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup to meet her — or “the moment we were allowed to, by the rules,” as Yael Averbuch West, Gotham’s general manager and head of soccer operations, told The Athletic.
“We’re always looking for players at Gotham who can fit into our style, in terms of a very intelligent player with a really high football IQ and technical ability,” Averbuch West says.
“We talked to her a number of times to try to convince her why she should consider moving her family across the world. … (She) is at a stage of her career where she is experienced, but also still looking to improve her game, which is the most important thing to us at the end of the day — that players are still hungry for more, and she very much is.”
Reiten, a native of Sunndalsøra, around 300 miles north of the capital Oslo, began her professional career as a teenager in Norway, playing across multiple clubs before signing with Chelsea in 2019.
Growing up, everyone around her played soccer, including her mother, Iren Olsen, who played professionally in Norway. Reiten tried lots of sports — like skiing and handball — but always found her way back to football.
In her first year with Chelsea, she appeared in 23 of their 25 matches, scoring seven goals and earning a nomination for WSL Player of the Year. She won a WSL title every year since, scoring 59 goals and recording 44 assists across 207 appearances. She won four Women’s FA Cups and three Women’s League Cups, bringing her trophy count to 13.
“I played with my heart for Chelsea, and I’m gonna play with my heart for Gotham,” Reiten says. “Hopefully I can help the team create chances and score goals and (we can) create great memories together.”
Reiten has been recognized by publications such as The Guardian as being among the top 100 players in the world, qualifying her as a High Impact Player. That means Gotham can tap into an additional $1 million in funds above the salary cap to pay her when the rule comes into effect on July 1. Averbuch West on Wednesday declined to specify with reporters any details of Reiten’s contract, but said she is among several Gotham players who qualify for HIP.
When Reiten first met with Gotham, the winger was impressed by their professionalism. They came prepared with PowerPoints and a clear vision for how she fit into their system.
“From then on,” she said, “I knew that this was the place that I wanted to go to.”
Reiten’s arrival was slowed by the visa process, which meant returning to Norway upon leaving London before relocating to New Jersey. She is now with Gotham, joining the team following her international window with Norway, in time for Gotham’s next match on Saturday with Bay FC. Reiten recently featured for her national team in UEFA World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia, entering both games as a second-half substitute. Norway won both games (5-0, then 3-2).
On Wednesday, Reiten had her first Gotham press conference, appearing all smiles and seeming at ease. Reiten has been in New Jersey for “a couple of days” and is adjusting to the time difference. Whether she will debut this weekend is unclear. Averbuch West said Gotham wants her on the pitch “as soon as possible,” but the club is easing her into their system. She added, Reiten will have to earn her spot like everyone else.
Her arrival could not come at a better time, with Gotham suffering a sluggish start. When she signed, Gotham were days from opening their 2026 campaign against Boston Legacy at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.
It remains their only win of the season. Across five matches, the team has only scored two goals. With one win, two losses and two scoreless draws, the champions sit 13th in the 16-team league.
At first, the plan was for Reiten to join the NWSL team over the summer. But as Gotham’s needs changed, so did the team’s urgency to have her in the U.S.
Defenders such as Brazil international Bruninha and long-serving Mandy Freeman suffered injuries to their hamstring and lower leg, respectively, which have limited the team’s ability to stretch the width of the pitch. Neither has featured this season.
Gotham had the shortest offseason of any NWSL club. Their 2025 ended on the last possible day of the year — during the championship match on November 22, when they beat Washington Spirit 1-0. There was an international window two days later that ran through December 5, for which 10 Gotham players were called up. By January 5, the team was back in Spain preparing for the Champions Cup in London, which ended on February 1. Preseason started a few weeks later.
Head coach Juan Carlos Amoros has leaned heavily on younger players to start the season, such as rookies Jordynn Dudley and Andrea Kitahata.
Kayla Duran, in her second year with the club, filled a much-needed role on the wing in players’ absences. She exited their match against Kansas City Current with an injury in the 18th minute. A week later, she was ruled out for the remainder of the year after suffering an ACL injury in her right knee.
Reiten’s arrival signals a reunion with her former Chelsea teammates, defender Jess Carter and goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. The pair signed with Gotham in 2024 and quickly worked their way into the team’s starting rotation.
“We’re really lucky to be able to get a player like her to come and join us,” Carter told The Athletic. “She’s a very versatile player who can play multiple different positions, and she’s going to be a great addition.
“This was probably one of the nicest playing groups of women that I’ve ever had the opportunity to play with, so she’ll be really welcomed.”
Reiten may also be in store for a reunion with her former Chelsea coach, Emma Hayes, who like Carter and Berger, left the club two years ago and is now head coach of USWNT. Hayes shared a message on social media after Reiten’s move was announced. “One of the best,” Hayes wrote. “A delight to coach. A wand of a left boot and an amazing person.”
Though Reiten will be moving to New Jersey as the same left-footed winger that dazzled in Europe, she will be starting this chapter of her career with a new perspective. In November, Reiten and her partner announced the birth of their son, Felix.
“It’s changed everything,” Reiten said. “One of my reasons why I want to play for the national team is that I want to leave the shirt in a better place for the next one. And with a kid, it gives that perspective, like ‘Oh, my God, he’s here.’
“Whenever I go (to) leave for football, I might be happy, I might be angry, upset, whatever mindset — then I walk in the door, and he’s there with his big smile, and I forget everything.”
Moving to Gotham is another leap of faith for Reiten, like moving to Chelsea once was.
“I went there seven years ago with no expectations at all, and I’m leaving with 200 games and a couple of trophies,” Reiten says. “I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved with the club and with the people that I’ve spent a lot of time with, but it’s time for something new.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Chelsea, Gotham FC, Norway, NWSL, Women's Soccer, Women's Super League
2026 The Athletic Media Company
