CanWNT FW Deanne Rose inks 2-year deal with WSL's Leicester City

Deanne Rose is staying in England's top flight, as she signed a two-year deal with WSL side Leicester City on Friday. 

We are delighted to announce the signing of forward Deanne Rose on a two-year deal 🦊

— LCFC Women (@LCFC_Women) September 8, 2023

After two seasons with fellow WSL side, Reading FC, it's a good move for Rose, who departed Reading following their relegation from the top flight last season. 

Having spent most of last season on the sidelines after tearing her Achilles in the fall, this is also a chance for Rose to find her feet and get minutes again, too, as she was sorely missed across Reading's disappointing campaign. 

Now, she'll look to refind her feet with Leicester, who enter this campaign with high hopes. Having avoided relegation for a second-straight season, after they were promoted from the second division ahead of the 2021-2022 campaign, they want to keep building off that while pushing higher up the table this season. 

And with the signing of Rose, they've found a player that can help them do that. In her first full season with Reading, Rose had four goals and three assists, helping Reading finish midtable, avoiding the drop by over 14 points, showing how much she was missed last year, where she played just 87 minutes across three league games.

A quick forward, she can play anywhere across the frontline, although her best position usually is on the right side of a front three. There, she can both score and create, providing the sort of dual-threat that teams like to see from their attackers, especially those playing out wide. 

Therefore, look for her to slot in seamlessly up front for a Leicester side that needs goals, badly. Given that they scored just 15 of them across 22 games last year, by far the lowest number in the WSL (the next worst teams, Reading and West Ham, had 23 goals), they'll take any sort of injection of offence to help them avoid relegation once again. 

As for Rose, this will be a chance to continue her progress in the professional game, as she enters her third season as a pro after she spent four years in college with the University of Florida. Still just 24, she's still got a lot of growth ahead, especially when factoring in her injury. 

Because of that, look for her to return to the heights she found in her first season, where she caught the eyes of many with her performances in the English top flight. 

From there, she'll then aim to use that as a springboard for Canada, where she remains a key part of their future plans in the attack. Having already featured 75 times for Canada, scoring 10 goals, she's been a key fixture for a while now, and will only look to further grow into a bigger role going forward. 

Especially for a Canadian team that needs offence, as seen at the World Cup, she can provide that on the wing once healthy again. Unfortunately, that didn't come at the World Cup, as she wasn't back to full speed yet, but with Olympic qualifiers this fall, that'll give her a chance to return to her usual service for Canada. 

Therefore, this move could prove to be a key one both for Rose and Canada, as she looks to put the frustration of injury behind her, focusing on what's ahead.