<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
After months of speculation<\/a>, the Dubliner ended up at the club who had been most heavily linked with her signature, and she arrived for training alongside her Chelsea teammates for the first time this week.<\/p>\n Ready for our first session back on pitch. \ud83e\udd29 pic.twitter.com\/nYcFKpbunq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) July 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Chelsea’s social channels shared footage and photos of McCabe arriving for training, saying that she had “genuinely [not] stopped smiling.”<\/p>\n Genuinely hasn’t stopped smiling. \ud83d\ude03 pic.twitter.com\/uiEeolwqiw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) July 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n McCabe has stated previously that she supported Chelsea during her childhood, and it was evident from the first photos of her at training that this was a special day for the Irish veteran.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfb6 We’ve got McCabe. Katie McCabe. \ud83c\udfb6 pic.twitter.com\/F81gDu912t<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Katie McCabe is happy to be in blueee pic.twitter.com\/C5OGJZKeRw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chelsea Women Daily (@CFCWdaily) July 24, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n First training session for Katie McCabe as a Chelsea player. pic.twitter.com\/l161MRhsjS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chelsea Women (@CFC__Women) July 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Not that everyone is as happy as McCabe evidently is with her recent move.<\/p>\n Her decision to move directly from Arsenal to one of their biggest rivals has not gone down well with sections of the Gunners’ support, something McCabe acknowledged in response to\u00a0Balls.ie in Cork in early June<\/a>.<\/p>\n c<\/p>\n McCabe’s departure from Arsenal, after a decade which saw her win every trophy available to her, was acrimonious and drawn out.<\/p>\n The first rumours that she was set to depart emerged in February<\/a>, before a superb run of form in the latter half of the season led to a late push for a new contract from Arsenal<\/a>. However, at that stage, McCabe’s mind had been made up<\/a>, with Arsenal having initially opted against renewing her deal.<\/p>\n Despite the acrimony and the fallout that has followed her exit, McCabe remains one of the greatest figures in the modern history of Arsenal FC, and a legend of their women’s team – something perfectly summed up by their manager Ren\u00e9e Slegers this week.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Arsenal manager laments McCabe departure<\/p>\n Just a day after Katie McCabe’s first training session in a Chelsea jersey, Arsenal boss Ren\u00e9e Slegers spoke to Sky Sports<\/a> ahead of the new WSL season.<\/p>\n McCabe was not the only veteran to leave the Emirates this summer, with England legend Beth Mead also departing.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are legends of the club based on what they\u2019ve done for Arsenal and for me it was a pleasure working with them\u2026 I think Katie (McCabe) with her leadership and vocality on the pitch\u2026 very energetic, vocal on the pitch, of course we\u2019ll miss that\u201d Ren\u00e9e Slegers \u2764\ufe0f\ud83e\udd0d pic.twitter.com\/MtnQnl3URN<\/a><\/p>\n