West Ham United women's team have welcomed Camila Sáez to the Club as their third signing of the summer transfer window.
The 29-year-old joins the Club on a free transfer after an impressive season at Madrid CFF, where she featured 29 times in the Spanish Liga F during the 2023/24 campaign, and brings experience and quality to the Hammers’ squad, adding depth to Rehanne Skinner’s options in an area of the squad the manager had targeted for strengthening.
Having started her career in her native Chile with La Calera Union, Everton, Copperloa and Colo-Colo, she then headed to the Spain to play for Tacón before making the switch to Rayo Vallecano ahead of the 2018/19 season, where she made 100 appearances for the club in a four-year spell.
Sáez is a regular for her country, having made 71 appearances for Chile, and was previously part of the side that finished fifth at the 2022 Copa América in Colombia, scoring in a 2-1 group-stage win over Ecuador.
She also recently appeared for her country as they contested their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in France in 2019, the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and helped Chile finish as runners-up to Mexico at the 2023 Pan-American Games.
You can watch her first interview with West Ham TV in the video player above, or scroll down to read on...
Camila, Welcome to West Ham United! How does it feel to be a Hammer?
“I feel very good, it’s great to be here and I’m looking forward to showing what I’ve got and repaying the trust that the Club has put in me to bring me here.”
Can you tell us about yourself as a player?
“I am a defender who loves being up for the fight – particularly for aerial balls - but am also someone who likes to get forward. I am good at playing out from the back, can play both left-back and centre-back, although my main position is centre-back.”
You’ve been playing top-level football since you were 15, reached the Copa Libertadores final with Everton on your 16th birthday and won over a dozen titles with Colo-Colo. Tell us how you began playing football and what it was like to be so successful as a teenager?
“To be honest, it was a lot of commitment, effort, dedication and help and support from my parents, who were a really important part in helping me to achieve what I have achieved. It has been a lot of perseverance.”
You moved to Spain in 2017 and have played professionally there for seven seasons. How was that different from playing in Chile? You must have enjoyed the experience to spend such a long time living and playing in Spain?
“When I went to Spain to begin with, it was to sign a contract as a [professional] footballer, which was something that didn’t exist in Chile at the time, so it was very different. I think now that things have improved in Chile, and there are now certain professional contracts for women players, that it was a big change in Spain [at the time], and in addition to that the intensity and competitiveness was much greater.”
You have also been an important player for Chile down the years, playing in historic matches and tournaments. What’s that experience been like?
“It has been an incredible experience, and for a player to represent their country is the best thing you can achieve, so to have done that over such a period of time makes me very, very proud. I am also proud of what I have achieved with my country, such as going to the Copa América [Femenina], [FIFA Women’s] World Cup and Olympic Games, and it is something I can be most proud of in my career.”
What have been your standout memories of playing for Chile?
“It is really hard to choose just one moment from of those three tournaments. With the Copa América, I remember the goal that I scored, it was probably the most important of my career, and was in a match we won 4-0, but I scored the first goal and for its importance, it’s the most important goal I’ve scored. For the World Cup, I call it the ‘Fiesta of Football’ and is the most important tournament for a footballer to play in, so to be there was incredible.
“The Olympic Games was a dream I had since I was little as I used to watch it on the TV, so the chance to go there was incredible. If the World Cup is the ‘Fiesta of Football’, then the Olympic Games is the ‘Fiesta of Sport’, and it is the absolute top for any sportsperson.”
You will be just the second Chilean player to play in the WSL, following goalkeeper Christiane Endler, who played for Chelsea in 2014, so does it feel like you’re representing your country as well as yourself in England?
“Absolutely. I think it is very difficult to get to England and to play at this level as it is the most competitive league in the world, so it makes me very proud to bring Chile to such a high level, but with that comes great responsibility also, to try and open doors for other Chilean players. I’m very excited to have that sort of challenge.”
What do you hope to achieve with West Ham United?
“I think it is a big Club that deserves to get to the very highest level, so with a lot of training and a lot of hard work, we will hope to do exactly that.”
We’ll be heading to Australia during pre-season for the Perth International Football Cup. How much are you looking forward to heading Down Under?
“I am really excited to go to Australia. I played there once with Chile for a friendly and it went really well (Australia won a friendly 1-0 in Adelaide in November 2019), so I’m so hopeful this experience will go as good as the last one and we are really excited to get out there!”
