Catarina Macario and Mia Fishel are fitting right in at Chelsea.

Although the pair are still learning the pronunciations of London’s Tube stations, their connection has brought them from the San Diego Surf youth soccer club all the way to one of the game’s biggest stages: the English Women’s Super League.

Emerging stars for the U.S. women’s national team, Macario and Fishel already have turned their names into a portmanteau — “Catfish” — and are looking forward to connecting on the pitch for club and country.

They’re set to help Chelsea defend the WSL title for a fifth straight season. And while they’re the biggest American names in the WSL right now, they’re not the first USWNT players to make the leap across the pond. Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle, Tobin Heath and Christen Press all played England in past seasons.

“They’ve always praised how intense the WSL is, how competitive it is,” Macario told the Daily Mail. “They’ve also told us where to go to buy some nice winter coats!”

Macario and Fishel come to Chelsea from different professional clubs, Macario from 2022 Champions League winners Olympique Lyonnais and Fishel from Liga MX’s Tigres UANL.

Fishel finished 2022 as Liga MX’s leading scorer, and the 22-year-old forward believes the environment in the Mexican league pushed her to be a better player.

“I decided to trust myself and go to another league [from the NWSL] which was an amazing experience. A new culture, a new language, and the best team in Mexico,” she told the Daily Mail. “I had like seven or eight national team players from Mexico on my team. It was a great environment that pushed me. I was able to flourish there.”

The 2023-24 WSL season kicks off Sunday, with Chelsea facing off in a London derby against Tottenham. While Fishel is set to compete right away alongside star players including Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby, Macario still is making her way back from an ACL tear. And while the 23-year-old midfielder is hoping to be back soon, she isn’t in any rush.

“It’s taken a little bit longer than I’d hoped for anyone would have expected,” Macario said. “One reason why I chose to go to Chelsea, Emma (Hayes) really focuses on doing the little things off the field. I feel like she has created a culture, not only on the pitch but off the pitch and really taking care of her players – not pressuring them to come back earlier than what they’re supposed to. I’m really happy where I am right now, I really trust the medical team here.”

Mia Fishel to Chelsea is officially official.

The club announced the signing Friday, confirming that the Liga MX Femenil star has signed a three-year deal through the summer of 2026. She joins Chelsea from Liga MX’s Tigres, where she has played since January 2022 after forgoing the NWSL following the league’s draft.

According to The Equalizer, Fishel’s transfer fee sits at $250,000, which is also what her deal is worth. That ranks among the highest transfer fees in the world, though less than the £250,000 paid by Chelsea for Denmark forward Pernille Harder in 2020.

“I’m super excited, it’s a dream come true and everything that I’ve worked for since I was a kid until now. It’s all worth it and it’s all paid off because now I’m playing for one of the best clubs in the world,” Fishel said in a statement. “I’m excited to know London, to meet the people and get to know everybody. I’m blessed and excited to start this journey with Chelsea.”

Fishel is the latest high-profile signing by Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who also acquired USWNT and Olympique Lyonnais star midfielder Catarina Macario. And while Fishel likely won’t knock Sam Kerr out of her starting spot, she provides depth and can develop further as a player alongside some of the world’s best.

“Mia is an exceptional finisher whose box presence and movement make her elite,” Hayes said. “She can also create something from nothing and her prime years are to come.”

For Tigres in 2022, Fishel scored 33 goals total, including 17 times in 17 games. She also captured the league’s Golden Boot award and won a championship. She is still seeking her first senior national team cap with the United States, but the move to the Women’s Super League could increase her standing in the USWNT pool.

“Mia is a born goalscorer and we think that she’s at a great age to take the next step in her career,” Chelsea general manager Paul Green said. “We’re really excited and feel that her pace and power is going to be a big asset for the team in the upcoming years.”

Catarina Macario has signed a three-year deal with Chelsea, the team and the star midfielder announced Friday.

The 23-year-old attacking midfielder will join the club on July 1, per the team’s release. Macario posted a photo of herself in a Chelsea jersey on Instagram with a straightforward caption: “Let’s get it.”

The deal will keep Macario with the Women’s Super League club through the summer of 2026. She has spent the last two seasons in France with Olympique Lyonnais. And after playing with some of the best in the game there, she now links up with Australian star Sam Kerr.

“I can’t wait to get started here!” Macario said in a release. “I’m really happy to sign for Chelsea and I hope to represent the jersey well over the next few years. I’m looking forward to linking up with so many good forward players such as Sam (Kerr), Lauren James and Guro (Reiten). It will be good to play with Kadeisha (Buchanan) again also.

“I’ve been fortunate to have some great experiences in Europe already with Lyon, playing with many top players and of course winning the Champions League also. I hope to carry on those experiences here and bring home the trophy for Chelsea as well!”

A staple of the U.S. women’s national team, Macario has spent the last year working her way back from an ACL tear sustained in league play with Lyon last June. Her recovery timeline lagged, and she announced in late May that she would not be ready in time for the World Cup.

The terms of the Chelsea deal were contingent on her medical clearance. According to the Chelsea release, Macario “continues to make good progress” with her rehab.

“Cat is one of the most intelligent, creative attacking players in the world who I think will blossom in this Chelsea team,” Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes said. “She brings a great deal of flair, European experience, and an unbelievable winning mentality. I think our fans will really love her.”

Arsenal have suffered another blow, as Laura Wienroither has become the fourth player on the squad to suffer an ACL tear in the last six months, the club announced Thursday.

She suffered the injury during Monday’s Champions League semifinal loss. The 24-year-old Austria national team player joins Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema on the Gunners’ roster of ACL injuries this season.

“I’m going to miss every single second of not being on the pitch with this special team,” Wienroither said in an Instagram post. “I’m so proud to be a part of this group and to share experiences with these girls — on and off the pitch.

“I’ll fight like hell to return as soon as I’m ready to get back to following my dream in red and white. This team is really special… I think we can all feel it. Until that time, I’m Arsenal and Austria’s biggest fan.”

Miedema, who tore her ACL in December, posted in support of her teammates: “At least we will all be in the gym together.”

But she also added: “ACL group is full now. Please no more.”

A number of the game’s biggest stars have suffered ACL injuries in recent months, leading to concern over what many regard as an injury crisis in women’s soccer. Mead has called for more research into injuries in the women’s game, and Portland Thorns forward Janine Beckie – who is also sidelined with an ACL tear – echoed those sentiments and called for more resources for women’s teams.

Earlier this season, women’s health specialist Dr. Emma Ross told Sky Sports that women athletes “are up to six times more likely to have a non-contact ACL injury than their male counterparts.”

She added that just 6% of studies in sports and exercise science are done solely on women, which translates into a lack of research and education on women’s injuries.

While some researchers attribute the injury crisis to the physiological affects of the menstrual cycle, including joints becoming less stable during the cycle, there is not enough evidence to draw a link between the menstrual cycle and injuries, Ross said.

“So we do have some information about loose joints,” she said, “but what we don’t have is the end step of whether that really does increase the risk for injury in female athletes.”

Dr. Katrine Okholm Kryger pointed to soccer cleats being geared toward men’s feet as an injury risk factor, as men’s and women’s feet differ in shape and volume. Many cleat manufacturers have begun to develop a women’s specific cleat, which should be available for this summer’s World Cup.

Aresenal is in the midst of its own internal review after its spate of ACL tears, manager Jonas Eidevall said following Wienroither’s injury. Eidevall also called for external cooperation between clubs, national teams and their governing bodies.

“We need to look at the complete picture and see which factors we can control,” he said. “We need to look at that internally to see what we can do better in the future. Some parts are internal and things we can control, then there are things we need external cooperation with. For example, the playing schedule or the cooperation between clubs and national teams or how and when competitions are played and how the international match calendar is done.

“There are bits that I think clubs can solve internally but there are a lot of things that require the whole world of football to cooperate, we need to do both.”