Crystal Palace are poised to sign the New Zealand forward Indiah-Paige Riley as they accelerate efforts to strengthen their squad after promotion to the Women’s Super League.
A fee has been agreed with PSV Eindhoven and the 22‑year‑old has agreed personal terms with Palace, who have not made a signing since they won the Championship to secure a place in the top division for the first time.
The Auckland-born Riley has played every minute of New Zealand’s Olympic campaign in France, impressing as one of the Football Ferns’ standout players in their defeats by Canada and Colombia. New Zealand face France in their final Group A fixture on Wednesday.
Riley began her career with Brisbane Roar before a spell with the Danish club Fortuna Hjørring and a return to Brisbane. She has played for PSV since last summer and scored seven league goals there. She helped PSV to finish third in the Eredivisie, scoring 0.51 goals for every 90 minutes that she was on the pitch.
Riley was a key summer target for Laura Kaminski’s Palace, who are expected to make further signings. They begin their WSL campaign at Tottenham on the weekend of 21-22 September, before hosting Chelsea the following Friday.
England have announced they will play four home friendlies in October, November and December as they begin their preparations for the Euro 2025 next summer in Switzerland, where the Lionesses will defend the title they won on home soil in 2022.
after newsletter promotion
Two of the friendlies will be played at Wembley, first against Germany on 25 October in a repeat of the European Championship final. Emma Hayes’s USA side will visit Wembley on 30 November. England will also play South Africa in Coventry on 29 October and Switzerland at Bramall Lane on 3 December.
Source: theguardian.com
