San Diego Wave FC has acquired the rights to Swedish striker Sofia Jakobsson in a transfer with Bayern Munich.
The 31-year-old will officially join the San Diego NWSL team pending her International Transfer Certificate and P1 visa.
We could write out all the reasons why we're excited to have @JakobssonSofia join Wave FC, but we'd rather you see for yourself 🌊 pic.twitter.com/OprD4N2y13
— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) January 15, 2022
Jakobsson’s move comes after a short stint with Bayern Munich that began in July following a 33-match 2020-2021 campaign with Real Madrid. The Swedish star notched eight goals and seven assists during her season with the Spanish club.
A veteran on Sweden’s national team, Jakobsson has appeared in over 100 matches for her country, scoring 23 international goals and leading her side in three World Cups.
“Sofia is a natural goal scorer and a proven winner at the highest levels of the game,” said Wave FC head coach Casey Stoney. “She’ll bring yet another scoring threat to Wave FC’s attack.”
According to Meg Linehan of the Athletic, Jakobsson’s contract will be for three seasons, with her salary covered by allocation money.
The Swede joins USWNT star Alex Morgan on San Diego’s impressive attacking lineup.
Sofia Jakobsson has had a busy summer.
Twelve days after completing an Olympic silver-medal run with the Swedish national team, Jakobsson finds herself thousands of miles from Tokyo. She’s in Louisville preparing for The Women’s Cup, her first competition with new club team FC Bayern Munich.
“During the Olympics, it felt like I would go back to Madrid, but I actually knew I would come here,” Jakobsson told Just Women’s Sports on Tuesday. The Swedish striker signed with Bayern Munich in July after two years with Real Madrid.
Welcome to the FC Bayern family, @JakobssonSofia! 🔴⚪
— 🇺🇸 FC Bayern US 🇨🇦 (@FCBayernUS) July 2, 2021
The Sweden international joins @FCBfrauen from Real Madrid. ✍️#MiaSanFamily
Jakobsson says it took her until “some days after” a whirlwind Olympics to remember she’d be playing with a new club team.
The star forward helped lead Sweden to the gold-medal match in Tokyo, trouncing the United States 3-0 on the way to the podium. The Swedes’ bid for gold was ultimately halted by Canada, who beat Sweden on penalty kicks in the Olympic final.
“It’s obviously still a little bit disappointing,” said Jakobsson, adding that she felt Sweden was “the better team.”
“It still stings a little bit, like a lost gold medal and not a silver medal won, but I hope in the future that it will feel great and I can be proud of the great tournament we did together.”
With the Games now behind her, the 31-year-old is ready to turn her focus to the club season, which begins later this month.
“I know the German league is really tough and every game will be super tough,” she said, adding that she expects the Frauen-Bundesliga will be more competitive than the Spanish league. “Trainings will be more intense and I will keep up my level and even progress even more.”
Before Jakobsson can settle into the German league and in with Bayern, she and the squad will first compete in the inaugural Women’s Cup, a Louisville-hosted tournament that includes two European teams (FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain) and two NWSL teams (Racing Louisville and the Chicago Red Stars).
Bayern Munich comes to Louisville after a successful 2020-21 season in which they made a run in the Champions League before falling to Chelsea in a hard-fought semifinal. PSG comes to The Women’s Cup after squashing Lyon’s 14-year reign atop France’s Division 1 Féminine, winning the 2021 title for the first time in club history.
Racing Louisville and the Red Stars, meanwhile, have had impressive seasons in the NWSL. The hosts have posted an impressive four wins and three draws in their debut season in the league. International talents like Ebony Salmon and Nadia Nadim have energized the upstart team. And Chicago, after a mid-season three-game winning streak, sits fifth in the NWSL standings, with a playoff spot well within reach.
Even in its first year, Jakobsson, 31, says there are already “big eyes on the tournament.”
“I think really this can help women’s soccer to grow and the teams to get more followers from U.S. and vice versa,” she said.
Bayern’s Women’s Cup matchup against PSG is a game Jakobsson thinks could preview a potential Champions League collision.
“It will be a really exciting game I hopefully play, or even to be on the sidelines to see both teams compete,” she said.
The European teams will meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET, streaming on Paramount+, while the NWSL teams will follow at 7:30 p.m. ET.