{"id":235846,"date":"2026-03-29T16:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/what-can-guro-reiten-bring-to-gotham-equalizer-soccer\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T16:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:11:12","slug":"what-can-guro-reiten-bring-to-gotham-equalizer-soccer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/what-can-guro-reiten-bring-to-gotham-equalizer-soccer\/","title":{"rendered":"What can Guro Reiten bring to Gotham? \u2013 Equalizer Soccer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n

One day before the start of the 2026 regular season, Gotham FC<\/a> dropped a huge bomb, announcing the signing of Norwegian winger Guro Reiten<\/a>. Pending visa approval, Reiten will join the Bats from Chelsea FC in England, first on loan through the 2025-26 Women\u2019s Super League season and then as a free agent on a contract through 2029. The 31-year-old, who hasn\u2019t scored or assisted in her 260 minutes of league play this WSL season, will be 35 by the time her contract is up with the Bats. What could have made Gotham want to take such a big chance on her?<\/p>\n

She fills a big gap in Gotham\u2019s roster<\/h3>\n

Reiten is a true left winger, a type of player Gotham has never had in the Juan Carlos Amor\u00f3s era. Players who filled in at the spot in previous years include Ella Stevens<\/a>, Gabi Portilho<\/a>, and Lynn Biyendolo<\/a>, all of whom are no longer with the club, as well as Jaedyn Shaw<\/a>, whose talents are better suited to her more familiar attacking midfield role. Having three players in their natural positions on the forward line will be huge for a team that has historically struggled to score goals.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s a pretty good player<\/h3>\n

Current season notwithstanding (seeing as her minutes steeply dropped with Chelsea\u2019s signing of Alyssa Thompson<\/a>), Reiten averaged 6.2 goals and 5.2 assists per 22-game WSL season, which comes down to 0.96 goals and assists per 90. And she hasn\u2019t been entirely unproductive this season either, notching 5 assists and 1 goal in non-WSL competitions. What exactly can Guro Reiten do?<\/p>\n

Cross a ball into the box<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 2024-25 WSL season (the last one where she got consistent minutes), Reiten ranked in the 90th percentile for successful crosses, with 2.06 per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She has shown that she can deliver aerial crosses\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u2026 which offers good opportunity to combine with Gotham\u2019s aerial threats like Esther Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a> and 5 \u201911\u201d rookie forward Jordynn Dudley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And that she can place a mean low driven ball across the box.<\/p>\n

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Pick out other attackers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reiten also ranks high in big chances created (80th percentile in 2024-25 WSL). A lot of that has come from her ability to pick out players and place them in 1v1 situations.<\/p>\n

In this clip, she intercepts a pass from an opposing defender and gets the ball to the feet of Sam Kerr, who she noticed was by herself on an island in the middle of the penalty box.<\/p>\n

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And in the same game, she demonstrated that she can do it from distance too, delivering a long ball forward that left teammate Aggie Beever-Jones in a favorable 1v1 situation with the opposing goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

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Gotham FC General Manager Yael Averbuch<\/a> West mentioned that Reiten has been on the team\u2019s radar for a while<\/a>. If she can continue to do what caught the front office\u2019s eye while she plays for the Bats, she will definitely be a worthy acquisition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Score penalties (among other goals)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t going to be a situation Gotham will find themselves in every day. But having Chelsea\u2019s all-time penalty scoring leader on their team is a big step in making sure Gotham never has a repeat of the 2024 semifinal penalty shootout.<\/p>\n

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Score non-penalty goals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gotham\u2019s 2025 championship win was certainly an incredible feat, but it does bury the fact that the Bats finished the season with only three more goals than last-place Chicago Stars. Gotham need goals, and Reiten has certainly shown she\u2019s capable of delivering. In fact, here\u2019s her scoring three in one game when her team needed them most.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Gotham\u2019s biggest weakness in the past few years has been its offense so being able to pull off finishes like these is an invaluable boost to the squad.<\/p>\n

She has experience as a fullback<\/h3>\n

Bruninha and Lilly Reale<\/a> both picking up injuries in the most recent international window\u2014and Bruninha still being unable to play\u2014was a stark reminder of how thin Gotham\u2019s fullback pool is. Although Reiten\u2019s most comfortable position is on the wing, she has also played significant minutes for Chelsea as a fullback. She\u2019s even put up decent defensive numbers, ranking in the 80th percentile in the 2024-25 WSL season for the number of dribblers she\u2019s allowed past her. Lilly Reale is and should be Gotham\u2019s plan A at left back, but having competent depth in the position will only help the club in the future, especially in a long season with many mid-week NWSL and <\/em>CONCACAF W Champions Cup games.<\/p>\n

There was no transfer fee (and she\u2019s HIP-eligible!)<\/h3>\n

Because Reiten is coming to Gotham on loan until her contract with Chelsea lapses, the club doesn\u2019t have to pay a transfer fee. Then, the Bats get to lock her down for 3.5 more years on a free agent contract in the summer. Because the winger ranked in the top 40 of the Guardian Top 100 football players in the world in 2024, she just qualifies for a High Impact Player contract that would significantly decrease her salary-cap hit to the club provided her salary makes up at least 12% of the total cap. So this could pan out to be a very wise financial decision by Gotham\u2019s front office.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s a highly-experienced veteran<\/h3>\n

Excluding Reiten, Gotham\u2019s existing forward pool consists of two rookies, two sophomores (who barely saw the pitch in 2025), two players only signed through this season, and a 32-year-old striker. Because of that, Reiten\u2019s presence as an experienced veteran will be invaluable to Gotham\u2019s young forward line, especially in 2027 and beyond. Even if Reiten isn\u2019t able to perform like she did in the peak of her career, she will be around to provide important guidance to the players that will define Gotham\u2019s next few years.<\/p>\n

Gotham has a habit of bringing out the best in players<\/h3>\n

Since head coach Juan Carlos Amor\u00f3s took the reins in 2023, Gotham FC has managed to kick-start or revive the careers of many players. A non-exhaustive list includes:<\/p>\n