“One of the most in-form players in the league” – that’s the type of praise Chelsea’s unassuming winger Guro Reiten might shy away from, but has become increasingly common during a brilliant season.

The 28-year-old tops the charts for WSL assists with 10 and has scored seven league goals, while she has a further eight assists and four goals in other competitions.

The Norwegian endured two disrupted seasons at the start of her Chelsea career because of the Covid-19 pandemic but this campaign has been instrumental in keeping her side’s trophy ambitions alive.

“She has been very influential to their season,” said former Tottenham and West Ham player Sam Miller on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.

“We’ve seen her grow season-by-season. She’s almost gone under the radar at times but she is just stepping up each season.

“She’s almost like a baby-faced assassin. She’s got a killer instinct. She’s been one of the most in-form players this season.”

‘Passion and love for game kept me going’

Reiten grew up in the small town of Sunndalsora in Norway and fell in love with football at an early age.

“When school was over we would run out to the pitch and we just played football, we enjoyed it,” Reiten tells BBC Sport.

Her hometown also produced the winner of the inaugural Ballon d’Or, Ada Hegerberg.

“It tells you something about the coaches we had when we were younger – the job they were doing got us to where we are today,” she says.

Reiten possessed talent from a young age but bided her time in Norway’s domestic leagues as she came through the ranks of the international team.

“I’ve always been quite good at [football],” she says, demonstrating her unassuming nature, before adding: “In the women’s game, money isn’t great so for me it was just the passion and the love for the game that kept me going.”

Reiten’s mother, herself a former player in Norway’s top flight, coached her for several years and is the person who dishes out the “toughest comments”.

“I always tell [Chelsea manager] Emma Hayes what she says and she says ‘you should listen to your mum’!”

‘Imagine winning the league on Zoom’

After finishing top scorer for back-to-back seasons in Norway’s top flight, Reiten took the plunge to move to the WSL in 2019 aged 24.

“I’ve always been patient, not taking a step that I was not ready for,” she says.

“I knew Chelsea had been watching and following me for a few years before I decided to come here. When I did decide I knew I was ready and I don’t regret it.”

But just as things were getting going the pandemic hit, with Chelsea securing the trophy on a points-per-game ratio after the league was abandoned.

“Imagine getting your medal on Zoom! Emma called every week saying the league was going to start and then one day she was there with Champagne like ‘we won!’ [It was] very strange.”

But for Reiten, it was the following season, 2020-21, she found more difficult as she went nine months without seeing her family.

“There were still a lot of restrictions and I was struggling with some injuries as well. I didn’t play at my best level and wasn’t really happy outside of football.

“But, I was slowly finding myself towards the end of that season. I had said to Emma at Christmas ‘I’m not going to be at my best level but I’m going to give you everything that I have as a sub, the last 15 [minutes], that’s all I can do’. We were on the same page about that.”

‘Nobody knew the impact she would have’

Two years later, Reiten is one of the first names on Hayes’ team sheet.

She has played in 35 of Chelsea’s 36 matches this season, starting all but two of them, such is her importance to the team.

Without key duo Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder for much of the season through injury, Reiten says there was a need for someone else to “step up” and provide assistance to striker Sam Kerr.

Reiten has been that player for the Australia forward, setting up Kerr for seven of her 26 goals this season.

“Sam tells me everyday – ‘between my hair line and my eyebrows, that’s where I want it’,” says Reiten.

“Sam’s the best striker in the world and I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.

“If Sam’s not scoring goals I’m not looking at her I’m looking at me – what am I not doing right?”

Among Reiten’s admirers is former England and Chelsea forward Lianne Sanderson who told DAZN: “She’s so good at providing the service to the forward line and she’s been brilliant for Chelsea.

“When she came into the squad nobody knew the impact she would have – they thought she’d be a squad player, but she’s been brilliant.”

So does that mean Reiten thinks people underestimate her?

“If they do then they do. That’s beneficial for me.”

‘Reiten has carried team’

Reiten doesn’t pay attention to stats and doesn’t enjoy the plaudits and headlines that come with being a professional footballer.

“I love this position – I love playing football but everything that comes with it – media and interviews – that’s not my favourite part,” she says.

“Some get more headlines and talked about more but everyone is important and I know that everyone needs to be at their best for us to win and that’s all that matters to me.”

But with more than triple the amount of assists this season compared to last and a consistency Hayes has come to rely on, what has been the difference?

“I don’t know!” she says. “I have the confidence when I go out on the pitch. I just try to be the best version of myself.

“Yes, I have a lot of assists, but to me that doesn’t really matter because I just want to win.

“As long as I get a medal around my neck I’m happy.”

Hayes thinks the “highly intelligent” Reiten has taken her game to another level by adding a “ruthless streak”.

“You can tell Guro anything and she can implement it,” Hayes said following her side’s 7-0 thrashing of Everton in the WSL.

“In the biggest games, in the biggest moments, I think she carried the team for large parts of this year.”

Sourced From BBC