Guro Reiten: Meet Chelsea's 'baby-faced assassin' leading their trophy hunt

Reiten has made 111 appearances for Chelsea successful her 4 seasons with the club

"One of the astir in-form players successful the league" - that's the benignant of praise Chelsea's unassuming winger Guro Reiten mightiness shy distant from, but has go progressively communal during a superb season.

The 28-year-old tops the charts for WSL assists with 10 and has scored 7 league goals, portion she has a further 8 assists and 4 goals successful different competitions.

The Norwegian endured 2 disrupted seasons astatine the commencement of her Chelsea vocation due to the fact that of the Covid-19 pandemic but this run has been instrumental successful keeping her side's trophy ambitions alive.

"She has been precise influential to their season," said erstwhile Tottenham and West Ham subordinate Sam Miller connected BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.

"We've seen her turn season-by-season. She's astir gone nether the radar astatine times but she is conscionable stepping up each season.

"She's astir similar a baby-faced assassin. She's got a slayer instinct. She's been 1 of the astir in-form players this season."

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'Passion and emotion for crippled kept maine going'

Reiten grew up successful the tiny municipality of Sunndalsora successful Norway and fell successful emotion with shot astatine an aboriginal age.

"When schoolhouse was implicit we would tally retired to the transportation and we conscionable played football, we enjoyed it," Reiten tells BBC Sport.

Her hometown besides produced the victor of the inaugural Ballon d'Or, Ada Hegerberg.

"It tells you thing astir the coaches we had erstwhile we were younger - the occupation they were doing got america to wherever we are today," she says.

Reiten possessed endowment from a young property but bided her clip successful Norway's home leagues arsenic she came done the ranks of the planetary team.

"I've ever been rather bully astatine [football]," she says, demonstrating her unassuming nature, earlier adding: "In the women's game, wealth isn't large truthful for maine it was conscionable the passionateness and the emotion for the crippled that kept maine going."

Reiten's mother, herself a erstwhile subordinate successful Norway's apical flight, coached her for respective years and is the idiosyncratic who dishes retired the "toughest comments".

"I ever archer [Chelsea manager] Emma Hayes what she says and she says 'you should perceive to your mum'!"

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Reiten made her planetary debut successful 2014 and has made 80 caps for Norway, representing them astatine the 2017 and 2022 Euros arsenic good arsenic the 2019 World Cup

'Imagine winning the league connected Zoom'

After finishing apical scorer for back-to-back seasons successful Norway's apical flight, Reiten took the plunge to determination to the WSL successful 2019 aged 24.

"I've ever been patient, not taking a measurement that I was not acceptable for," she says.

"I knew Chelsea had been watching and pursuing maine for a fewer years earlier I decided to travel here. When I did determine I knew I was acceptable and I don't regret it."

But conscionable arsenic things were getting going the pandemic hit, with Chelsea securing the trophy connected a points-per-game ratio aft the league was abandoned.

"Imagine getting your medal connected Zoom! Emma called each week saying the league was going to commencement and past 1 time she was determination with Champagne similar 'we won!' [It was] precise strange."

But for Reiten, it was the pursuing season, 2020-21, she recovered much hard arsenic she went 9 months without seeing her family.

"There were inactive a batch of restrictions and I was struggling with immoderate injuries arsenic well. I didn't play astatine my champion level and wasn't truly blessed extracurricular of football.

"But, I was dilatory uncovering myself towards the extremity of that season. I had said to Emma astatine Christmas 'I'm not going to beryllium astatine my champion level but I'm going to springiness you everything that I person arsenic a sub, the past 15 [minutes], that's each I tin do'. We were connected the aforesaid leafage astir that."

'Nobody knew the interaction she would have'

Two years later, Reiten is 1 of the archetypal names connected Hayes' squad sheet.

She has played successful 35 of Chelsea's 36 matches this season, starting each but 2 of them, specified is her value to the team.

Without cardinal duo Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder for overmuch of the play done injury, Reiten says determination was a request for idiosyncratic other to "step up" and supply assistance to striker Sam Kerr.

Reiten has been that subordinate for the Australia forward, mounting up Kerr for 7 of her 26 goals this season.

"Sam tells maine mundane - 'between my hairsbreadth enactment and my eyebrows, that's wherever I privation it'," says Reiten.

"Sam's the champion striker successful the satellite and I don't deliberation there's immoderate uncertainty astir it.

"If Sam's not scoring goals I'm not looking astatine her I'm looking astatine maine - what americium I not doing right?"

Among Reiten's admirers is erstwhile England and Chelsea guardant Lianne Sanderson who told DAZN: "She's truthful bully astatine providing the work to the guardant enactment and she's been superb for Chelsea.

"When she came into the squad cipher knew the interaction she would person - they thought she'd beryllium a squad player, but she's been brilliant."

So does that mean Reiten thinks radical underestimate her?

"If they bash past they do. That's beneficial for me."

Reiten assisted Kerr for the extremity that sent them done to the FA Cup last implicit Aston Villa

'Reiten has carried team'

Reiten doesn't wage attraction to stats and doesn't bask the plaudits and headlines that travel with being a nonrecreational footballer.

"I emotion this presumption - I emotion playing shot but everything that comes with it - media and interviews - that's not my favourite part," she says.

"Some get much headlines and talked astir much but everyone is important and I cognize that everyone needs to beryllium astatine their champion for america to triumph and that's each that matters to me."

But with much than triple the magnitude of assists this play compared to past and a consistency Hayes has travel to trust on, what has been the difference?

"I don't know!" she says. "I person the assurance erstwhile I spell retired connected the pitch. I conscionable effort to beryllium the champion mentation of myself.

"Yes, I person a batch of assists, but to maine that doesn't truly substance due to the fact that I conscionable privation to win.

"As agelong arsenic I get a medal astir my cervix I'm happy."

Hayes thinks the "highly intelligent" Reiten has taken her crippled to different level by adding a "ruthless streak".

"You tin archer Guro thing and she tin instrumentality it," Hayes said pursuing her side's 7-0 thrashing of Everton successful the WSL.

"In the biggest games, successful the biggest moments, I deliberation she carried the squad for ample parts of this year."

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