MANCHESTER, England (AP) — United States midfielder Sam Coffey joined Manchester City from the Portland Thorns on Wednesday, signing a 3 1/2-year contract.
The transfer fee was reportedly worth more than $800,000.
Coffey, who won Olympic gold and the SheBelieves Cup with the U.S. national team, was described by City as one of the best players in the world.
“Sam is playing at the top of her game, and I think her decision to come here shows the incredible progress we’ve made as a club and the ambitions we have moving forward,” City director of football Therese Sjogran said.
Coffey has appeared in 42 games for the United States, with four goals and five assists. She was left off the roster for the team's annual January camp, leading to speculation that she was on the move.
City hopes the 27-year-old Coffey will help lead the club to the Women's Super League title this season, with Andree Jeglertz’s team currently top of the standings. Its only league title came back in 2016. Chelsea has dominated the division over the past 11 years.
“It’s a club with so much history, so much success, so much influence in the city," Coffey said about City. “It’s also a place that just has proven its investment in women’s soccer and being a part of this movement that is going on."
Coffey was signed by the Thorns in National Women's Soccer League in 2022 after playing at Penn State and won a league title with the Portland club that season. She played in 90 matches for the Thorns, scoring five goals.
“Sam’s reputation as one of the world’s best speaks for itself, and we’re delighted she’s chosen to come here ahead of other potential suitors," Sjogran said. “We believe she has all the qualities needed to thrive at City and, more broadly, the WSL, and we’re excited to see how she can elevate our already superb squad of players."
Coffey is the latest national team player to head to Europe, joining defender Naomi Girma and forward Alyssa Thompson, who both went to Chelsea. The exodus has called attention to the NWSL's salary cap, and whether it hampers teams from attracting and retaining elite talent.
The league recently introduced a “High Impact Player” mechanism that would allow teams to compensate certain players up to $1 million over the salary cap, which is about $3.5 million per team for the upcoming season. The NWSL players union has objected to the proposal, saying it was not negotiated.
“For as long as I’ve kicked a ball, I’ve always dreamed of playing professional soccer in Europe, and it’s something I simply have to pursue,” Coffey said in a farewell video to Thorns fans. “I would never forgive myself if I didn’t go try.”
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FILE - United States' Sam Coffey (17) celebrates after her goal during the second half of an international friendly women's soccer match against Portugal, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, file)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.
SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.
“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.
It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.
Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.
While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.
NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.
The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)
