Malta international Ylenia Carabott will start a fresh chapter in her career as she will be plying her trade in Belgium in the upcoming season after signing for RCSC Charleroi.
Carabott had numerous offers from Italy, Greece and Cyprus. The Malta forward was also in advanced talks with English side Portsmouth before she opted for the Belgian club offer.
Carabott travelled to Belgium on Monday and Tuesday she immediately joined the squad for a pre-season training camp, with the Belgian league pencilled to start on August 28 as Charleroi will take on Gent, who placed third in the 2019/2020 season.
"After a difficult season in Italy, I wanted to measure myself overseas again," Carabott told the Times of Malta.
"Last season was still an important campaign for me as I feel I have stepped up my level as a player, while also serving as a learning curve as a human being myself.
"As long as I still have the opportunity to play in competitive leagues, I want to continue to relish these chances and remain at the top of my game."
RSCS Charleroi is one of the new faces of the Belgian top-flight after the league was expanded to 10 teams from last season six, with Zulte Waregem, WS Woluew and Eendracht the other teams who will be featuring for the first time.
Owned by the Belgian FA president Mehdi Bayat and known as Zebras, Charleroi started as a partnership with Girls Foot Academy. Carabott will be coached by Philippe Venturoso and the team is already assembling itself with various new signings including Iran international Yasaman Farmani and Ludmila Matavkova from Slovakia.
Carabott will be the second Maltese women player to feature in the Belgian league after Rachel Cuschieri's one-year spell in 2017/2018 with Anderlecht with whom she scored six goals on the way to the league title.
Anderlecht won the 2019/2020 season as well as they start as favourites to clinch the championship once again. They bolstered their squad with the arrival of former Manchester City and current Belgium international Tessa Wullaert during this transfer window.
For Carabott, 31, this will be her fourth experience away from the Maltese islands.
Last season she was in the Italian Serie B with Chievo Fortitudo Women, with whom she scored her first goal in a Coppa Italia encounter against Novese. She also faced Italian giants Juventus in the same competition before the season came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Previously she had spells at Swedish duo Alby FF in 2012 and three years later at Ange IF.
Carabott has enjoyed a distinguished career at domestic level, hailed as one of the best ever products in the Maltese game.
The clinical forward has topped the local scoring charts nine times – eight in a row between 2009 and 2017.
Carabott's experience to play part
In the women’s league, Carabott played with Raiders, Hibernians and Birkirkara. It is with the Paolites where Carabott established herself as a proving scorer with 328 goals in 245 appearances, winning every domestic silverware in the process.
At Birkirkara, Carabott played a key role with her 12 goals in 24 games as the Stripes clinched the league and the cup in the 2019-20 season.
She played in the Women’s Champions League where she was part of the Birkirkara side that clinched a point in the qualifying stage of the competition in the 2018-19 campaign – the second time a Maltese representative recorded such result after Hibernians in 2015.
At international level, Carabott is one of the most experienced players in Mark Gatt's side with her 83 caps with one of her latest appearances being against Switzerland in a friendly match that ended in a 2-2 draw with the former Hibernians and Birkirkara player being one of the Maltese scorers - her 19th on the international stage.