Angel City FC Make Two Deadline Moves

Taylor Vincent
Taylor Vincent, Resident NWSL ExpertApril 20, 2024
© USA TODAY Sports

In what the team called two ‘strategic trades’ prior to the closing of the NWSL Trade Window, Angel City sent defender Paige Nielsen to the Houston Dash for $50,000 in allocation money and $50,000 in transfer funds and midfielder Amandine Henry was sent to the Utah Royals in exchange for $75,000 in allocation money.

Seeing that Angel City was at 26 active players and Christen Press continues to progress in her return to play journey, most people expected the Los Angeles based side would need to do something to make sure that there was an active roster spot for Press to drop into but most expected it to be as simple as waiving a player.

Without any clarity into salaries and where the team sits on the salary cap, this reads like Angel City didn’t have a plan for the cap space that Press takes up once she’s on the active roster, and was left scrambling to make sure that it existed at the 11th hour, and they do get some cash back to potentially sign an additional player in the secondary window. 

The loss of Henry and Nielsen on the pitch for Angel City will be hard felt by the team who is currently sitting in tenth in the table, only getting four points out of the first four games.

Houston Acquires Paige Nielsen

Houston acquires: Paige Nielsen

Angel City acquires: $50,000 in Allocation Money and $50,000 in Transfer Funds

Trading away Nielsen, a player who started 21 matches for ACFC last year and has started three of the four matches this season and was not on many people’s radar as how to get the roster space opened up and back under 26.

This is a good move for Houston, who reportedly received a large sum of money from San Diego in return for Maria Sanchez and who had two starting defenders move to non-active roster this year on maternity leave.

The real losers in this deal are the players who now have to quickly pack up their lives, move states, and prepare to transition onto a new team — having missed an important part of the team building process, preseason. Nielsen joined Angel City from their start in 2022 and was one of their most consistent performers the entirety of last season, and now just before week 5 of play finds herself packing up and heading to Houston. 

Utah Acquires Amandine Henry

Utah acquires: Amandine Henry

Angel City acquires: $75,000 in allocation money

The Nielsen trade was leaked yesterday, but the additional loss of French national team player Amandine Henry, who just joined the squad last summer and quickly became the lynchpin in the midfield, was definitely a surprise to most. Henry arrived less than a year ago and was signed on a three year contract with an option year, expecting to stay in Angel City through 2026 or potentially 2027 and now finds herself in Utah.

For Utah, it’s also a move that makes sense because Amandine Henry is the caliber of player any team would be lucky to have, and as seen in the opening few games, a defensive midfielder like Henry would have an immediate impact there.


Top