DONE DEAL: Spurs Women announce signing of defender Amy Turner

Tottenham Hotspur Women have made their fourth addition of the summer, announcing this morning that they have completed the signing of 31 year old central defender and capped England international Amy Turner! She joins Spurs as a free agent on a two year contract, with the option to extend a further year.

Turner broke through into professional football at age 16 with Doncaster Belles Women, and bounced around the pyramid for a bit before becoming a member of the inaugural Manchester United Women squad in 2018, and helping United promote to the WSL along with Tottenham. She played 50 matches with United over three seasons before heading to USA to play a season with the Orlando Pride in the NWSL.

And that’s where things get... a little weird. Last month, according to our friends down the SBN hallway at The Mane Land, Orlando bought out Turner’s contract after just one season. There were accusations of inconsistent play during Turner’s time in Orlando, but the Pride were a hot garbage fire of a team last season, with allegations of gross mismanagement at the club and accusations of “discrimination, harassment, and bullying” by the Orlando coaching staff. The Pride were even under a roster freeze for a while, which was alleviated with the buy-out of Turner’s contract.

After announcing her departure from Orlando, Turner got support from a variety of sources during the past season, including from Wales international and OL Reign player Jess Fishlock.

There’s also a sense that there’s more to the story about what happened to Turner in Orlando than what’s been made public. It’s not clear whether her departure had to do with her performance, whether it was a poor fit, or if there was something else going on related to the allegations against the coaching staff. Notably Tottenham had previously signed two players from Orlando — Alanna Kennedy (now at Manchester City Women) and Shelina Zadorsky, and it really sounds like things are terrible in Orlando:

All of this weirdness adds up to what could be a really low-key excellent signing. Turner is experienced and a quality player with four England caps, and it feels like she got caught up in a bad situation in Orlando from which she was only recently able to extricate herself.

This one feels like it came out of nowhere — there weren’t any rumors in the build-up to this announcement. Some Spurs Women fans had wondered why Tottenham didn’t try to take up the option on Viktoria Schnaderbeck, who spent the back half of the season on loan at Spurs from Arsenal. This, honestly, may be why. Turner is a bit of a mystery box player, but she will improve Spurs’ depth in defense, an area that was already a strength of Rehanne Skinner’s side.

Regardless of how she got here, Amy Turner is now a Spurs player, and it could be a super important one as they continue to try and challenge for a spot in the top four next season. Welcome to Tottenham, Amy!