The 20-year-old has been surrounded by people all day, including a large group of family members who have accompanied her on the long journey from her home in Los Angeles.

Yet there is no ego to this entourage. The group is curious, friendly and happy to be welcomed into a new family at Chelsea. This is clearly a huge moment for them all.

Thompson was the first player to be drafted straight from high school into the NWSL. But she didn’t have to move very far to play. Her club, Angel City, was a short distance from her home and allowed her to shine on the pitch in familiar surroundings.

After two years playing in her home city, she has travelled over five thousand miles to her new club in London, away from everything she has ever known. That includes her sister and Angel City teammate Gisele. With just one year between the pair, they have been inseparable throughout their lives and careers in football.

In Los Angeles, Thompson had everything. To leave it all behind to join Chelsea is the biggest compliment she could give to her new club.

‘I love LA,’ she says. ‘I love playing there. I love being with my sister. I love my family. But what I also know is that I want more for myself, and I want to experience different things. I feel like Chelsea is such an amazing club.

‘It meant the world to me to play with my sister. She's my rock. I always feel the most comfortable with her around in any environment. It makes me feel like I don't really care what other people think, as long as she is with me. Having her around gave me the confidence to be myself on the field. She believed in me, and that's all I needed.

‘It was definitely a difficult decision to make to leave my family, my friends, and my home. I've never left home before, but once I heard about the offer, I really wanted to do it. I knew it would be so good for me. I felt like I'd be able to grow not just as a player, but also as a person.

‘I decided now was the right time because I felt in my gut that I wanted to go, and I've never felt like that before about other hard decisions that I've made in the past.’

Thompson has never been one to follow the crowd when it comes to her football career. The normal route to the NWSL would see a player go through high school and then college before entering the draft system.

However, her talent was so apparent from a young age that she became the first player ever to be drafted straight from high school. And she was selected as the number one pick.

‘It was really surreal being drafted to LA as number one,’ she continued. ‘I felt super special, and it was such an amazing moment to celebrate with my family and friends.

‘I felt like everything I'd done up to that point was worth it. I sacrificed a lot as a kid. I missed a lot of things. So being able to sign for my dream team was incredible.

'I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself going into that first year. I wanted to prove to everyone that I wasn’t just another young player coming in who had a lot of hype around my name.

‘I wanted people to know that I was actually good. But putting that pressure on myself didn't really serve me that well. Going into my second season, I tried to put a lot less pressure on myself.

‘People who came through the college system had different experiences from what I had. They had a little more time to mess up, to grow up. They were fully formed adults when they turned professional, but when I first became a professional, I did not know what it meant to be one.

‘That was really difficult coming in, but I learned a lot from the veteran players on my team. They taught me what being a professional really meant; it’s not just a case of going to training and then leaving. There's so much more in between that I wasn't thinking about.’

The pull of joining a Chelsea side that has dominated domestically for so long speaks for itself. But there’s a deeper reason for Thompson’s bold move across the Atlantic, and it’s rooted in the fact that football is ingrained in our way of life in England.

She witnessed that when she made her senior international debut as a late substitute in front of a huge crowd at Wembley Stadium when the USA faced the Lionesses in October 2022.

‘England is so different from the United States when it comes to football culture,’ she explains. ‘Football is life here, but in the United States, we have a bunch of different sports that other people like to watch.

‘I’m really excited about being part of a culture that really is just all about football. Playing at Wembley was such a crazy experience for me, especially the first time. I was not expecting to be brought on. I could feel the crowd and how much energy there was in the stadium, and I was like ‘this just such a cool place to be in’.’

While Thompson may be far from home in London, she will have familiar faces to help her adjust.

USA team-mates Naomi Girma and Catarina Macario are here to welcome her, and when she returns to play for her national team, she will be reunited on the pitch with her sister and a boss who knows Chelsea inside out.

‘I've spoken to Nay a little bit at camp,' she says. 'Just in general about what her experience has been like, because I know moving to Europe is such a scary decision to make, especially for us Americans who've been there our whole lives.

‘I just asked her how it was at camp a couple of times when she first made the decision. She told me she's adjusting still, but that it was a great decision for her and that the people at Chelsea are amazing. She told me they’re going to take care of you. And obviously, the football speaks for itself.

‘Emma always talks about her experiences at Chelsea in the national team, and just like how much she loved it.

‘But when I talked to Emma about coming here, she really wanted to make sure this was the right decision for me. She really supports her players. She was asking me the right questions to really make me understand if I truly wanted to be here or not.

‘Having her prod me with those questions helped me know in my heart that I actually did want to come here, even though there would be difficult things that I might face.’

Thompson’s bravery at the age of 20 really stands out above all else. Having made that tough decision to leave her home, it’s clear that she wants to make the most of her opportunities at Chelsea.

As we come to the end of our conversation, we ask her to come up with three main aims for her future in Blue. The third response is telling.

‘One, to win the Champions League.

‘Two, I hope I develop a lot as a player, learn from the veterans on the team, and get their insight on things so that I can grow each year and become a better player.

‘And third… win. A lot.’

Alyssa Thompson can certainly help us to do just that.