KC Current add U.S. women’s soccer star Sam Mewis to lineup in trade with N.C. Courage

The Kansas City Current bolstered their midfield ranks Tuesday morning, acquiring U.S. Women’s National Team star Samantha Mewis from the North Carolina Courage.

The Current, formerly known as the KC NWSL women’s soccer club, are sending defender Kiki Pickett and the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft to the Courage in exchange for Mewis, 29.

“Sam Mewis has proven herself as one of the best soccer players in the world,” Kansas City co-owner Angie Long said.

KC also traded the discovery rights of defender Malia Berkely to North Carolina in exchange for the Courage’s seventh-overall draft pick in 2022. Berkely spent five years at Florida State, winning the ACC Defender of the Year award in 2019 and 2020. The 23-year-old currently plays for Bordeaux in France.

Pickett was a valuable player for KC in the latter half of the 2021 season. She was selected fourth overall in the 2021 NWSL Draft and made 16 appearances here, playing the seventh-most minutes on the team this season (1,246). She finished the 2021 campaign, the Current’s first in KC, tied for second on the team in tackles (36), possession won (119) and blocked crosses (4).

Mewis was selected fourth overall by the Western New York Flash in the 2015 draft after a stellar college career at UCLA, in which she scored 31 goals in 87 NCAA appearances and won the 2013 national championship. She was awarded the 2015 Honda Sports Award, given annually to the nation’s best female collegiate player, following her senior year with the Bruins.

Mewis has since won a FIFA Women’s World Cup with the USWNT, played on three NWSL championship teams (with the Flash and the Courage), and won a Women’s FA Cup in England with Manchester City.

“It’s not a coincidence that everywhere she’s played throughout her career, titles have followed,” Long said. “She’s a leader on and off the field and we are thrilled to have her join the Current as a key contributor to help bring NWSL championships to Kansas City.”

Mewis made the NWSL Best XI and was an MVP finalist in 2017 with the Courage.

“I’m really excited to start this new chapter with Kansas City,” Mewis said. “I know how much the city has embraced our sport and I can’t wait to meet the fans.”

The addition of Mewis is the latest blockbuster trade for Kansas City and the second USWNT player to join the club following the summertime signing of goalkeeper A.D. Franch. She joins an increasingly impressive midfield core that features international-level talents Canadians Desiree Scott and Victoria Pickett.

In KC, Mewis will certainly be a goal-scoring threat from the center of the park. She’s scored 21 goals in 92 NWSL regular-season appearances, four goals in eight NWSL playoff appearances and 14 goals in 29 appearances for Manchester City. She also has 24 goals in 83 games for the USWNT.

In Kansas City’s inaugural season in the NWSL, only three of the club’s goals came from its midfielders.

“I’m honored to be part of what this group is doing and I’m really looking forward to getting started with my new teammates,” Mewis said. “I have a lot of confidence in this team already and can’t wait to get to work.”