The 20-year old forward joined the Blues in the summer of 2022 from Sheffield United, where she had gained a significant amount of first-team exposure having made her debut at only 16 years old.

Watson secured a season-long loan move to Charlton Athletic after penning her first deal at Chelsea, but an anterior cruciate ligament injury in August unfortunately cut that spell short.

She would return to the Blues for her rehabilitation and ahead of the 2023/34 campaign, Watson penned a new deal at the club until 2025.

A loan move to Crystal Palace followed, where she made eight appearances - in a season disrupted by injury – to help the Eagles win the Championship and with it promotion to the Women’s Super League for the first time.

On the international stage, Watson has featured for England across U-17s to U-19s level and represented the Young Lionesses at the 2022 UEFA Women’s Under-19 European Championship in the Czech Republic.

Everyone at Chelsea would like to wish Lucy well for her loan spell at Southampton and we look forward to watching her progress over the course of the season.