Eni Aluko to leave Chelsea after five years

Eni Aluko has announced she will leave double winners Chelsea Ladies this summer.

The striker helped the Blues land the Women’s FA Cup and Women’s Super League titles. Chelsea clinched the latter on Tuesday with a 2-0 win at Bristol City Women.

Aluko, 31, has not been a consistent starter for Emma Hayes’ team and will now move on.

She wrote on Twitter: “Another League & FA Cup double. 2015 was a dream come true to do it again I’m beyond words. After 5 yrs & 150+ appearances it’s with a heavy heart I confirm I’ll be leaving @ChelseaFC I couldn’t dream of a better ending. To my teammates who I adore, the club and fans THANKYOU”

Aluko has won 102 caps for England, scoring 33 goals, but has not played for the national team since April 2016.

She made a series of misconduct allegations against former Lionesses boss Mark Sampson that resulted in close scrutiny of his behaviour and the Football Association’s handling of the case. That episode concluded last October when a third investigation found Sampson had made racially discriminatory remarks to Aluko and fellow player Drew Spence in what were “ill-judged attempts at humour”.

By that time, Sampson had been sacked for an unrelated matter. Phil Neville has since been appointed as his successor.

Aluko was paid a settlement by the Football Association before England’s Euro 2017 campaign but the qualified lawyer has said she would be open to resuming her England career.

Her limited action with Chelsea has affected her chances of a recall, with Aluko scoring six times in 17 appearances this season.