Millie Bright has knee surgery day after withdrawing from Euros contention
The Chelsea defender announced on Wednesday that she would not be available for the Lionesses in Switzerland, saying she was 'not able to give 100 per cent mentally or physically'.
Bright posted a picture on Instagram on Thursday showing her left knee bandaged accompanied by the caption: 'Successful op. Road to recovery begins.'
An update on Millie Bright.
— (C)helsea FC Women 🏆🏆🏆 (@ChelseaFCW) June 5, 2025
The 31-year-old was the latest big name to rule herself out of Sarina Wiegman's squad, with Mary Earps and Fran Kirby both surprisingly calling time on their international careers.
A statement on chelseafc.com read: 'Chelsea can confirm defender Millie Bright has today undergone minor knee surgery. Millie will begin a period of rehabilitation with the support of the club's medical department.'
Bright, who played a key role in the Lionesses' 2022 European triumph, made her England debut back in 2016 and has 88 caps to her name.
Wiegman named the squad she will take to Switzerland to defend that title on Thursday, with England due to play their first match against France on July 5.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Jack Grealish 'walks into Liverpool and Chelsea teams' as Man City exit looms
Shay Given insists his former teammate Jack Grealish still walks into any starting XI in the Premier League – including those of Liverpool and Chelsea. Having played a starring role in Manchester City's treble triumph two seasons ago, Grealish has fallen out of favour at the Etihad, starting just 16 matches in all competitions in the 2024-25 campaign. The 29-year-old found himself left out the squad for City's final game of the Premier League against Fulham in May. A week later, he left among the subs for the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace where Pep Guardiola opted to call upon 19-year-old Claudio Echeverri for his debut over the £100million man as City chased an equaliser that never came. That fee City paid Aston Villa four years ago still stands as a British transfer record but Grealish's time at the club looks to be up with the expected arrivals of Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders set to push him further down the pecking order. Tottenham, Newcastle United and former side Villa are among those to have been credited with interest in the attacking midfielder with latest reports suggest he could be available for £40m. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. Former City goalkeeper Given, who also played alongside Grealish at Villa Park after he emerged from the club's academy, is convinced there will be a long list of potential destinations. The former Republic of Ireland star recalled Grealish's 'phenomenal' performance for England against the Boys in Green in September last year, confident he can still produce those performances at the highest level. 'I think Jack has been a generational talent, I really do,' Given told Metro. 'I think Jack can play for every single team in the country. 'I remember not so long ago he was playing a central role for England when they played Ireland last year, he was the star man, he was phenomenal that day. 'He is only 29, he still has three or four brilliant years ahead of him at the top. Having not played recently, he will be really hungry to go out there and show how good he is. 'I wouldn't want to name clubs but at the same time I think he walks into any team in the country, that even includes Liverpool or Chelsea or anyone. I think he just needs to be given a batch of games to show how good he is back in that central position and not out wide.' Grealish is not expected to be part of the City squad for the Club World Cup with their campaign underway against Wydad AC on 18 June in Philadelphia – with Given part of the DAZN broadcast team covering the event. A move could be on the cards very soon and while City would prefer a permanent move get the player's £300,000-a-week wages off the books, a loan could also be considered. Given believes there still could be a way back at City for Grealish in the long-term, but has urged him to find a club where he can get back to playing regular football. More Trending 'Reading between the lines, the writing is on the wall,' Newcastle legend Given said. 'I'm not sure what the situation is but it doesn't look like he is going to travel with the squad. 'We have to see what happens, maybe it is time to try and find a new opportunity elsewhere. Maybe on a loan deal somewhere, go do well and maybe come back to City. So it might not be in the end of the road, I don't know. 'But what I do know is Jack just wants to get back to playing football again. That's the most important thing.' Shay Given was speaking ahead of the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup 2025. Watch all 63 games live on DAZN for free. MORE: Reece James reacts to Chelsea's signing of in-demand striker Liam Delap MORE: Thierry Henry's warning to Arsenal and Chelsea over signing 'amazing' £60m striker MORE: Ray Parlour tells 'great' Chelsea star to snub shock Arsenal transfer
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Transfer news LIVE: Liverpool make £113m Wirtz offer, Inter inquire about Hojlund, Spurs target Frank as new manager
Tottenham released a lengthy statement explaining their decision to dismiss manager Ange Postecoglou: FOLLOWING a review of performances and after significant reflection, the Club can announce that Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties. Ange joined us from Celtic in the summer of 2023 and oversaw a period of change on the pitch, returning us to the attacking brand of football that has traditionally been associated with the Club, while writing a new chapter in our history by leading us to UEFA Europa League glory in Bilbao last month - an achievement that will live with us all forever. We are extremely grateful to Ange for his commitment and contribution during his two years at the Club. Ange will always be remembered as only the third manager in our history to deliver a European trophy, alongside legendary figures Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw. However, the Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place. Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season. At times there were extenuating circumstances - injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign. Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club's greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph. It is crucial that we are able to compete on multiple fronts and believe a change of approach will give us the strongest chance for the coming season and beyond. This has been one of the toughest decisions we have had to make and is not a decision that we have taken lightly, nor one we have rushed to conclude. We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision. We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future - he will always be welcome back at our home. News on the appointment of a new Head Coach will be announced in due course.
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Who's going to step up and replace Scotland's golden generation?
The youthfulness of Steve Clarke's squad for the friendly internationals against Iceland and Liechtenstein this month has, what with Connor Barron, Kieron Bowie, Tommy Conway, Josh Doig, Billy Gilmour, Max Johnston, Lennon Miller, Nathan Patterson and James Wilson all receiving call ups, certainly been heartening. The members of that nonet have an average age of just 21. Every one of them has a huge amount to offer their country at international level for many seasons to come. They have numerous qualifying campaigns left in them and hopefully a few finals too. The same is true of the injured duo Ben Doak, the Liverpool winger, and Aaron Hickey, the Brentford full-back. It was also encouraging to see the SFA roll out their Cooperation System – which will see up to three Scotland-qualified prospects under the age of 21 move freely between Premiership and Championship parent clubs and lower league outfits on loan from the 2025/26 season onwards – this week. Read more: Similar agreements already exist in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. Hopefully the long overdue scheme will enable our best prospects, who have often been prevented from gaining much-needed competitive game time in the senior ranks simply because their presence is needed to satisfy homegrown player quotas in European competition, to make the difficult transition from the age-group ranks. That initiative was one of the main recommendations contained within the Transition Phase paper which was co-authored by Andy Gould, the SFA's chief football officer, and Chris Docherty, the governing body's head of men's elite strategy and was published last year. That report contained many worrying revelations, damning findings and stark conclusions about how poorly Scotland is doing in comparison with other countries of a similar size across Europe when it comes to producing talented young footballers who are capable of flourishing in the paid ranks. But if anybody needed reminding just how few professionals are emerging, Brown Ferguson, the former Alloa, Hamilton and Partick Thistle midfielder and the current Stenhousemuir assistant manager who is also the assistant regional performance manager at sportscotland and the high performance manager to Scottish Golf, took to X (formerly Twitter) to tell us. He posted a series of alarming statistics about the Premiership last season. Here are a few of the most startling. Just 31.46 per cent of players to start games in the top flight were Scottish. That is down from 45 per cent three years ago. On average, just 3.23 per cent of players kicking off on a Saturday are under 21, just four out of 132. No fewer than 20 team selections failed to contain a single Scot. Aberdeen and Celtic didn't start an under-21 player in the 2024/25 campaign. The SFA have identified these major problems and are endeavouring to address them. The SPFL clubs, who in the past have shown they are more concerned with self-interest than the greater good, have endorsed and embraced their plans. But is it too little too late? Our leading clubs face a raft of challenges running academies and bringing through youngsters who are capable of representing their first teams every year. The issues which Brexit and raids on their age-group squads by their wealthier English rivals have presented in recent years have been well documented in these pages. Far fewer footballers who are good enough are emerging. These are pretty exciting times in Scottish football with Brighton owner Tony Bloom buying a major stake in Hearts and a consortium comprising American billionaire Andrew Cavenagh and the San Francisco 49ers taking over Rangers. With Hibernian a far more formidable force than they were and Aberdeen lifted by their epic Scottish Cup triumph, next season promises to be a belter. Read more: But the focus in recent weeks has very much been on how much money every club will spend and who will be brought in this summer. The new powerbrokers seem unconcerned about doing their bit to help our national game by rearing homegrown heroes. Sure, wanting to promote youth has been mentioned in passing. It appears, though, fairly far down their list of priorities. Such is the money mad modern game. There is, with Barron, Bowie, Conway, Doig, Gilmour, Johnston, Miller, Patterson and Wilson as well as Lewis Ferguson, Jack Hendry, George Hirst, Andy Irving, Scott McKenna, Scott McTominay and John Souttar all in the current Scotland squad, no reason for Tartan Army footsoldiers to panic. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) Yet, the World Cup qualifying campaign which will get underway with away games against Denmark and Belarus in September may well prove to be the last that Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes, Craig Gordon, Grant Hanley, John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Andy Robertson, Lawrence Shankland and Kieran Tierney are involved in. Some will retire after it, others will stay on. But we are witnessing the last hurrah of a golden generation. Will those who come after that aforementioned group grace, as many of their predecessors did, the Premier League and the Champions League? The majority of them still have some way to go to scale the same heights as their compatriots. A few will manage it, but many won't. Clarke lamented how few goalkeepers he had to choose from when he announced his squad last month. He, or his successor, may be left bemoaning the lack of centre-backs, full-backs, holding midfielders, playmakers, wingers and strikers going forward. There must be a concerted collective effort from club owners and managers or qualification for the finals of major tournaments will be a thing of the past.
