What KC’s women’s pro soccer team is looking for in adding Olympique Lyonnais forward

Kansas City NWSL added more firepower Monday morning, announcing the signing of Olympique Lyonnais forward Jéssica Silva on a two-year contract.

Silva is expected to join the team in late May or early June, meaning she’ll miss a handful of KC’s games as they start the NWSL regular season at Louisville on May 15.

“Jéssica is an exciting player who we hope will be able to provide a spark to our offense,” KC coach Huw Williams said. “She is a very creative and often flamboyant one-versus-one player.”

Silva has endured an injury-plagued couple of years, featuring for a total of 18 minutes for French club Lyon since 2019, scoring one goal.

Before Lyon, however, she made 41 appearances for Spanish team Levante between 2017-19, scoring six times. She’s also spent time playing in Sweden and her native Portugal since 2014.

Despite her struggles at club level in recent years, Silva has still made a big impact for her national team, featuring 64 times for the country since 2011, including in three of Portugal’s four games in 2021.

She’s scored six goals for her country.

She was also called up to Portugal’s 2017 UEFA Women’s European Championship squad but was injured in the last training session before the squad departed for host country the Netherlands and had to be replaced.

This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 10:37 AM with the headline "What KC’s women’s pro soccer team is looking for in adding Olympique Lyonnais forward."