By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-07-29 14:28:19 | Updated at 2026-08-03 02:42:33
4 days ago
Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton has signed a new two-year deal at Chelsea. What makes her so important to Sonia Bompastor’s team?
Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton has signed a two-year contract extension, committing her future to the Blues.
In April, it was reported she would leave Chelsea at the end of the 2025-26 season after failing to agree terms with the club on a new contract.
Until this week, a new deal was yet to be agreed. Hampton had effectively been on the market all summer.
With her finally signing an extension on Tuesday, though, a huge weight has been lifted from manager Sonia Bompastor’s shoulders. Chelsea’s goalkeeper position is stable for another two years.
The Chelsea boss will also be delighted the position remains in the capable hands of one of the world’s top-performing keepers, Hampton having considerably boosted her reputation since joining the Blues.
After all, she’s absolutely made that position her own. With 50 Women’s Super League outings under her belt for Chelsea, only Ann-Katrin Berger (65) and Carly Telford (56) have featured more between the sticks for the club. And she’s likely to leapfrog both over the course of her new deal.
The 25-year-old joined from Aston Villa in 2023 and has been an incredible example of reliability between the posts. Among goalkeepers to have featured over 10 times for the Blues, only Zecira Musovic (80.0%) has a better save percentage than Hampton (76.4%), though her 48 total saves is far fewer than Hampton’s 121.
In her three seasons at Stamford Bridge, Hampton has also proven her quality in comparison to the WSL’s other goalkeepers. Among those with 20+ appearances in that time, she’s conceded the fewest goals per game (0.74) and kept the most clean sheets (26). Similarly, her save percentage of 76.4% is topped only by Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s 76.5%.
Over the same three-season period, according to Opta’s expected goals on target (xGOT) model, Hampton has faced 39.7 xGOT and conceded just 34 goals (excluding own goals). As a result, her 5.7 goals prevented goals is tied for the fifth most in the league alongside Brighton & Hove Albion’s Chiamaka Nnadozie.
But Hampton hasn’t just been important to Chelsea with respect to keeping the ball out of the net. Her comfort with it at her feet has a tangible impact considering Chelsea’s status as one of the most possession-oriented teams in the WSL.
Across the past three seasons, only Manchester City (61.1%) and Arsenal (60.5%) have averaged more possession than Chelsea (59.8%), and Hampton has found herself more involved in build-up play than most other keepers in the league.
Of those to have played 1,000+ minutes since 2023-24 started, Hampton ranks third for successful passes (35.4) per 90 and first for successful passes ending in the final third (0.82).
Her quality for Chelsea extends beyond just the WSL; Hampton has also been one of the top-performing goalkeepers across the continent since moving to west London.
Hampton has played 12 UEFA Women’s Champions League matches for Chelsea, keeping the third-most clean sheets per 90 (0.42) of any goalkeeper in the competition (500+ minutes).
Manchester United’s Tullis-Joyce (0.62) and Barcelona’s Cata Coll (0.45) may have kept more, but Hampton has been the busiest of the three, making more saves per 90 (3.25) than either (Tullis-Joyce – 2.62, Coll – 1.69).
Her performances understandably caught the eye of England manager Sarina Wiegman, who made her the Lionesses’ number one ahead of the now-retired Mary Earps in 2025.
She was a key component of England’s European Championship retention last summer, with Hampton’s 2.9 goals prevented more than any other keeper, topping the metric ahead of Spain’s Coll (2.17).
Hampton was awarded the Yashin Trophy in 2025 as recognition of her performances for both club and country, and she was also named in the UEFA Women’s Championship Team of the Tournament.
Despite having only been England’s number one for just over a year now, Hampton has more than proven her worth between the sticks – and at club level, she has built a reputation as one of the most indispensable goalkeepers in world football.
A new contract for Hampton is one of the most important deals Chelsea and Bompastor will make this summer.
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