DONE DEAL: Spurs Women sign American keeper Katelin Talbert on half-season loan

Another signing for Spurs Women, and it’s a weird one! Yesterday, the club announced that it had signed American goalkeeper Katelin Talbert on an unusual half-season loan from West Ham United.

So who is Talbert? She’s a 25-year old American-born keeper who played college ball at Humbolt State University, a Div. II school, graduating in 2020. She has openly admitted to struggling with mental health and weight loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was cut from OL Reign’s roster after being encouraged to try out that summer. Since then her rise in the game has been nothing short of meteoric for someone from such a small program — she’s had stops as a professional in Iceland and Portugal (where she started 23 matches and won the Campionato Nacional Feminino), was signed by West Ham last year, and spent the season on loan in Sweden with Djurgarden.

Which is part what makes this loan so weird! A half-season loan is pretty unusual, especially from one WSL club to another WSL club. To be fair, Spurs could probably use another keeper — after losing Barbora Votikova this summer, Tottenham’s options are Becky Spencer and Eleanor Heeps, so Talbert is likely coming in to push or even compete with Becky for the starting role.

Honestly, there’s a lot to like about her. Talbert s game has been described as “brave” and her Wikipedia page notes her ability to make athletic and aggressive saves, noting her nickname in Portugal was “the American Machine.” She’s comfortable with the ball at her feet and is apparently known as a supreme athlete. Sounds pretty good to me!

Talbert isn’t on the radar of the USA Women’s National Team (at least yet) but she seems like a super interesting under the radar player. I’m not thrilled with continuing to develop a West Ham player, but I can see the upside of bringing in a competent backup keeper, even if it’s only for a half-season. She sounds like a fascinating player, and I’m interested to see what Katelin can bring to a Spurs team that needs an injection of excitement this summer. Welcome, Katelin Talbert!