Southampton have signed Chelsea defender Isabel Milne, the club have confirmed.

The teenager has expressed her delight at joining the Saints, stating she is looking forward to starting her journey with the Women’s Championship club:

“I’m really excited to be here! It’s a really ambitious club, looking to make it up to that next level and as a young player coming into that environment, it’ll be great for my development. There’s a mix of younger and experienced players here, which shows that there’s a pathway, which is important for me too.”

Milne started every game for Chelsea‘s Under 18s last season, helping the Blues to win the WSL Academy League Cup in the process.

However, she was keen to play senior football, having also turned down a scholarship from Michigan State University in order to seal a move to the south coast.

It will be a step up for Milne

Although she has been called up by England at Under 18 level, the defender has limited experience beyond club academy football.

Milne did impress Saints boss Marieanne Spacey-Cale enough during a trial over the summer to be offered a contract. It will be interesting to see how much game time the defender gets next season.

Southampton will be looking to improve on last season

The Saints finished 6th in the Championship during the 2022/23 campaign, having won 9 of their 22 matches. They ended up 15 points behind eventual title winners Bristol City.

To improve their fortunes, Southampton have brought in a number of players this summer, in addition to Milne. The likes of Reading’s Chloe Peplow, Crystal Palace’s Rianna Dean, Lewes’s Emily Kraft and Leicester duo Molly Pike & Jemma Purfield have all made the move to the St Mary’s Stadium since the start of July. There could well be more joining Spacey-Cale’s team in the coming weeks ahead of the new season.