The NWSL's Kansas City Current officially placed defender Alana Cook on the Season Ending Injury list on Thursday, after the center back tore her left ACL, MCL, and meniscus in last Friday's 1-0 win over Orlando.
Since joining the Current in a 2024 midseason trade from Seattle, the 28-year-old starter has anchored the backline of her new team to the tune of 10 shutouts in 19 matches.
The injury is also a setback to Cook's USWNT return, with the defender logging her 30th cap and first international minutes since October 2023 just last month.
"Alana has made a big impact for our club on and off the pitch in a short period of time, and our hearts absolutely break for her," said Kansas City head coach and Cook's former USWNT boss Vlatko Andonovski in a club statement.
"Throughout her career, Alana has proven to be determined, resilient, and disciplined with an optimistic spirit," he continued. "We are confident she will carry those same attributes into her recovery process. The team will stand by her every step of the way, and we eagerly await the day she is able to join us on the pitch again."
Kansas City attack also suffers injury losses
Cook's season-ending knock wasn't the only blow to the NWSL-leading Current, as attacking midfielder Debinha and striker Temwa Chawinga also exited Friday's pitch with injuries. With five goals each, both are currently in a four-way tie for second in the Golden Boot race.
Andonovski told the media on Wednesday that while 2024 MVP Chawinga is still undergoing evaluation, Debinha "is not probably going to be back until after the summer."
With both being considered 2025 MVP frontrunners, the losses may leave fans wondering how long Kansas City can maintain their spot atop the league.
This season's NWSL Golden Boot leader Esther González is sticking with Gotham, with the Spanish international extending her contract with the NJ/NY club through 2027.
After helping Gotham to a first-ever NWSL championship in 2023, González earned the league's Best XI Second Team honors last year before launching a red-hot campaign this season.
The 2023 World Cup winner has tallied seven goals in nine games for Gotham in 2025, showcasing a blistering rush of form that has her sitting two goals ahead of the next Golden Boot race contender.
"Above all, it's about how I've felt during these two and a half years with Gotham FC," González said in Thursday's team announcement. "Continuing to be happy both on and off the field is really important. To keep enjoying myself and representing Gotham's colors, which I truly identify with, is something really incredible."
Gotham's continued investment underlines the 32-year-old's case for 2025 MVP candidacy, as award frontrunners start to emerge one-third of the way through the 2025 NWSL season.
González leads the NWSL in shots on target while sitting fourth in expected goals per 90 minutes, with her scoring outpacing many of her peers.
Other players crafting strong 2025 NWSL MVP resumes include Kansas City's 2024 MVP Temwa Chawinga and comeback star Debinha, Angel City wunderkind Alyssa Thompson, and Orlando sharpshooter Barbra Banda.
In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins examines the individual standouts of the first third of the 2025 NWSL season, offering her early shortlist of players making strong cases in the league's MVP race.
As defenses continue to find their stride, league scoring is paving the way in the 2025 season so far, leading Watkins to put forth four top attackers, calling them "the most established, the most consistent" MVP candidates.
First, Watkins digs into Kansas City's Debinha, who sits second in the NWSL Golden Boot race with five goals and an assist through eight 2025 matches.
A two-time league champion and three-time Shield-winner with her previous club, the North Carolina Courage, Debinha already owns the 2019 MVP title in addition to two Challenge Cup MVP trophies.
Calling her "the big glitzy comeback story on what is right now the best team in the league," Watkins notes that Debinha is "a killer playmaker [with] a talent for exploiting space [and] finishing her own chances, while also making her teammates better."
Joining Debinha as an early MVP frontrunner is Gotham FC's Esther. With seven goals in nine games, the 2023 NWSL champ and 2023 World Cup winner tops the 2025 Golden Boot leaderboard thanks to her ability "to score with her head and with her feet."
"Where Esther goes, so goes Gotham," says Watkins. "They haven't won a single game this season in which she did not score. That's team impact."
Top 2024 candidates keep pace with 2025 frontrunners
Last year's leaders round out Watkins' MVP favorites, including "a player that gets better when the job gets harder," Orlando's Barbra Banda.
"[Teams are] doing a better job of putting a lot of bodies on Banda to try to slow her down," causing her scoring to take a hit, but Watkins argues that Banda is still "one of the best out-and-out strikers of the ball in the entire league."
Finally, though "there's never been a back-to-back MVP in league history," Watkins says that reigning NWSL MVP and Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga is making a major case for running it back, led by the Kansas City star's "superpower of opening space where there is none."
Angel City striker Alyssa Thompson is an NWSL MVP dark horse
Finally, Watkins gives Angel City's Alyssa Thompson a unique nod, calling her the league's most improved player — an award that does not exist in the NWSL.
Remarking on Thompson's growth, Watkins points out the 20-year-old forward's leaps in consistency, poise, and her response to coaching at both the club and USWNT level.
"Her glimpses of brilliance are turning into something more consistent," describes Watkins. "She's fast.... She's a really good dribbler. She can take players on 1v1 and make them look silly, get in behind on goal, shoot, score. But she has widened her ability to connect with teammates.... She's just become a well-rounded winger in a way that we were not seeing before."
With four goals on the season, Thompson currently sits tied for fourth place in the 2025 Golden Boot race with the likes of Banda, Chawinga, Washington's Ashley Hatch, and Louisville's Emma Sears.
"Is [Thompson] in that space to to kind of overtake these really well established, consistent, dominant players [in the MVP race]?" wonders Watkins. "Maybe not. But the fact that she has made this leap to this stature in the league is huge."
About 'The Late Sub' with Claire Watkins
The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes on the USWNT, NWSL, and all things women's soccer. Special guest appearances featuring the biggest names in women’s sports make TLS a must-listen for every soccer fan.
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