On Monday, Portland Thorns FC announced that the club and midfielder Mana Shim mutually agreed to part ways. This season, Shim only played in six games, starting three for a total of 209 minutes after struggling with injuries. Over her five-year career with the Thorns, she earned 74 career appearances and scored nine goals, adding […]

On Monday, Portland Thorns FC announced that the club and midfielder Mana Shim mutually agreed to part ways.This season, Shim only played in six games, starting three for a total of 209 minutes after struggling with injuries. Over her five-year career with the Thorns, she earned 74 career appearances and scored nine goals, adding nine assists. Shim was on the club’s roster for both the 2013 NWSL Championship and the 2016 NWSL Shield wins. She signed with the team as a discovery player ahead of the league’s inaugural season. “While I am excited to move forward with my career overseas, it is very difficult for me to say goodbye,” Shim said, in a Thorns press release. “My time with the Thorns has been beyond anything I could have imagined. I would like to thank Merritt Paulson, Gavin Wilkinson, Mark Parsons, the staff, my unbelievable teammates, and the best fans in the world for allowing me the opportunity to play in this beautiful city. We have created so many memories that I will never forget. My heart is full of gratitude, and I will miss this place.” “We have a tremendous amount of respect for Mana and we are extremely appreciative of her contributions to this club over the past five seasons and we wish her all the best,” Gavin Wilkinson, the general manager and president of soccer for Thorns FC, said in the team’s official release. “Mana has been presented with an opportunity to play abroad and at this stage in the season, with every player competing for minutes on a deep roster, we want to allow her to pursue that option.”