Kansas City Current has signed German goalkeeper Almuth Schult, sources told ESPN.
Schult, 33, Germany’s starting goalkeeper at the 2016 Olympics, where the team won its first Olympic gold medal, as well as the team’s starting goalkeeper at the 2019 World Cup.
He was also part of Germany’s Euro 2013 winning team and was capped for Germany at the 2011 and 2015 World Cups.
At club level, Schult won the UEFA Champions League in 2014 as a goalkeeper for VfL Wolfsburg, where she also won six German league titles.
In 2022, Schult signed with Los Angeles-based NWSL’s Angel City FC but played one game in a few months with the team.
Schult missed the 2023 World Cup and gave birth to her third child last August.
She gave birth to twins in 2020 before returning in time to make Germany’s Euro squad for the COVID-delayed 2022 tournament.
“I am the first player in Germany in about 20 years to return from pregnancy to play for the national team [a 2022 World Cup qualifier],” Schult told German online website DW last year.
“I usually thought that when I was pregnant, their career was over, so they weren’t ready to have children. “
Schult signed for Hamburger SV in Germany’s second division in April. She was able to sign the move-in window outdoors thanks to new FIFA regulations that provide flexibility after maternity leave.
Schult will be eligible to play for Kansas City after the NWSL secondary window officially opens on Thursday.
Kansas City sits in second position in the NWSL regular-season standings entering the league’s foreign break with a loss.
That task came in the last game before the Olympic break, against Orlando Pride in a war of undefeated teams.
The Pride’s victory gave them a three-point lead over Kansas City through 16 games.
While Kansas City has scored more goals (40) than any NWSL team this season, Current has conceded 22 goals, 10 more than Orlando and the most of any team in the top six.
Two-time NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Adrianna Franch started and played every minute of 16 regular season games for Kansas City.
Franch, 33, is a former NWSL champion and member of the United States women’s national team that won the 2019 World Cup.
She was also part of the 2021 USWNT Olympic bronze medal-winning team and began the bronze medal race after incumbent Alyssa Naeher was injured in the semifinals.
Kansas City head coach Vlatko Andonovski is the USWNT’s head coach for this tournament.
Franch ranks 11th in the NWSL this season in goals opposed per 90 minutes, and 19th among all goaltenders in expected goals after a no-goal shot allowed, according to FBRef, which is a measure of favorable luck and skill superior to the average to prevent gunshots.