Guro Reiten, Chelsea’s unassuming winger, has been instrumental in keeping her side’s trophy ambitions alive this season. The 28-year-old Norwegian has topped the charts for Women’s Super League assists with 10 and has scored seven league goals, as well as eight assists and four goals in other competitions. Reiten grew up in the small town of Sunndalsora in Norway and fell in love with football at an early age. After finishing top scorer for back-to-back seasons in Norway’s top flight, she took the plunge to move to the WSL in 2019 aged 24. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted her first two seasons at Chelsea, but this season she has been key, with former Tottenham and West Ham player Sam Miller describing her as a “baby-faced assassin” with a “killer instinct”.
Reiten possesses talent from a young age but bided her time in Norway’s domestic leagues as she came through the ranks of the international team. Her mother, herself a former player in Norway’s top flight, coached her for several years and is the person who dishes out the “toughest comments”. Chelsea secured the trophy on a points-per-game ratio after the league was abandoned last season, but for Reiten, it was the following season, 2020-21, she found more difficult as she went nine months without seeing her family.
Now, Reiten is one of the first names on Chelsea manager Emma Hayes’ team sheet. She has played in 35 of Chelsea’s 36 matches this season, starting all but two of them, such is her importance to the team. Without key duo Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder for much of the season through injury, Reiten has been the player to provide assistance to striker Sam Kerr, setting up seven of her 26 goals this season. Hayes thinks Reiten has taken her game to another level by adding a “ruthless streak” and believes she has “carried the team for large parts of this year”.
Reiten doesn’t pay attention to stats and doesn’t enjoy the plaudits and headlines that come with being a professional footballer. However, with more than triple the amount of assists this season compared to last and a consistency Hayes has come to rely on, it is clear that Reiten has been one of the most in-form players in the league this season. She will be hoping to carry her form into Sunday’s FA Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium, London (14.30 BST).