Christen Press and Tobin Heath go to Racing Louisville FC in expansion draft

Racing Louisville has the rights to Christen Press and Tobin Heath

Racing Louisville, the newest addition to the NWSL, started to piece together their team with this week’s expansion draft. The star-studded finish to the draft saw Louisville getting the rights to Tobin Heath and Christen Press, two players who would be wildly beneficial to the club should they ever actually put on the lavender jersey.

Each NWSL team had the opportunity to protect eleven players ahead of the expansion draft and somewhat shockingly, both Christen Press and Tobin Heath were left unprotected by their respective clubs. The two USWNT strikers are currently thriving in England’s WSL playing on short-term contracts for Manchester United who currently sits at the top of the table.

The Portland Thorns and Utah Royals definitely took a risk leaving their star players unprotected, though I imagine they suspected Louisville would rather take US-based national team players who could contribute more immediately than gamble on players abroad they may not see for a year between the WSL season and the Olympics.

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Though Utah and Portland each receive $75,000 in allocation money as compensation for giving up a US allocated player, Louisville seems to have gotten the better end of this deal.

If Christen Press and Tobin Heath return from England to play for Racing Louisville, the club will be well on their way to being a dominant force in the league, and you can be sure there will be a lot of adoring Press and Heath fans cheering them on. However, even if they never set foot in Louisville, they remain incredible bargaining assets for the club.

Having the rights to Christen Press will likely become particularly valuable when the next expansion draft rolls around for Angel City, the much talked about, celebrity-backed, Los Angeles based team that will make its debut in 2022. I would expect that as an LA native, Christen Press would be thrilled by the prospect of returning to her hometown if Lousiville is willing to make a future deal with Angel City.

Regardless of who Louisville intends to make future trades/bargains with, they’re sure to get players, money, and or draft pick spots of significant value for these superstars. Though it may be a long time before Christen Press or Tobin Heath make an appearance in Louisville, if ever, fans and Louisville residents can hang onto a glimmer of hope for the time being that at some future date they might get to see their favorite players lead this new team.