Kerr's Ballon d'Or rivals could be her new teammates

Sam Kerr is one of a few clear frontrunners for the 2019 Ballon d'Or feminin, but the greatest obstacles between her and Europe's greatest prize may be her future teammates.

While the 'Kerr to Chelsea' rumour has become so ingrained in the coversation regarding Australia's mercurial striker this off-season that many believe it to be a fate accompli, those supposedly in the know are beginning to wag tongues about Lyon.

Lyon would be as incredible a coup for Kerr as it would be vice versa.

By far the historically strongest team in female football, the record-setting Lyonnais have won six Champions League titles, the last 13 Division 1 Feminine titles and regularly gone multiple years unbeaten across all competitions.

Their current roster boasts no less than a quarter of the Ballon d'Or nominees, including last year's winner, Ada Hegerberg. Despite the relative growth and league status of the Women's Super League, Chelsea, for comparison's sake, have none.

It's a move that would thrust Kerr front and centre of the female sporting world, not just in Australia and the USA as she currently is, but in the spiritual home of football.

Europe is an insular beast, as Kerr's regular FIFA award snubbings have affirmed, but a move to Lyon would put Australian football on the map as it never has been before.

Only just entering her physical peak, we all know Kerr has the talent to be the world's greatest footballer. It's only the Champions League titles, FIFA awards and broader recognition that's still standing in her way.

The changing landscape of Division Feminine

Only a couple of years ago, a move to Lyon may still have been a retrograde step.

Such was the dominance of Lyon in the French tier that compared to the NWSL (still the most competitive league in female football), the level of overall competition would have been a step down.

But now Lyon face stiff competition from one of the richest clubs in the world, Paris St Germain, who like most of Europe's powerhouses are investing record amounts in female football.

Lyon are threatened and supposedly, a search for a prolific striker is on the cards.

How exactly Kerr would fit in alongside fellow striker Hegerberg remains unclear, but the two have very different asset bases and the Norwegian has experience playing alongside fellow strikers before.

While it remains simply a rumour, albeit one with growing traction, the possibility of Kerr's move to Lyon is an alluring one for Australian football.

It's about time the world's best player was an Aussie.

WOMEN'S BALLON D'OR NOMINEES

Sam Kerr (Chicago Red Stars/Australia)
Lucy Bronze (Lyon/England)
Ellen White (Manchester City/England)
Nilla Fischer (VfL Wolfsburg/Sweden)
Amandine Henry (Lyon/France)
Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride/United States)
Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal/Netherlands)
Dzenifer Marozsan (Lyon/Germany)
Pernille Harder (VfL Wolfsburg/Denmark)
Sarah Bouhaddi (Lyon/France)
Marta (Orlando Pride/Brazil)
Ada Hegerberg (Lyon/Norway)
Kosovare Asllani (CD Tacon/Sweden)
Sofia Jakobsson (CD Tacon/Sweden)
Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns/United States)
Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC/United States)
Lieke Martens (Barcelona/Netherlands)
Sari van Veenendaal (Atletico Madrid/Netherlands)
Wendie Renard (Lyon/France)
Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit/United States)