Alex Morgan Traded to Orlando Pride from Portland Thorns

The Portland Thorns have traded striker Alex Morgan to the expansion NWSL team in Orlando, Florida.

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Portland Thorns FC today announced that the club has acquired the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NWSL College Draft, the first pick in the 2015 Expansion Draft and an international roster spot for the 2016 and 2017 seasons from the Orlando Pride in exchange for forward Alex Morgan and midfielder Kaylyn Kyle. Per league and club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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SI.com's Grant Wahl first reported on the potential blockbuster trade on Oct. 21.

Gavin Wilkinson, general manager of Thorns FC, provided a statement following the trade:

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On behalf of the Thorns, I would like to thank Alex for her immense contributions both on and off the field during her three seasons with the club; she is a first-class professional and an amazing role model. By no means did we have plans to trade Alex, but this is a unique situation where we took into account her personal considerations and one that, by virtue of the considerable elements acquired through this trade, will position our club for success in 2016 and beyond.

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The U.S. international reportedly made the request to be closer to her husband, Servando Carrasco, who is a midfielder for Orlando City SC of the MLS. Sources told Wahl that Portland would not have made a deal had it not been for personal reasons.

The new team in Orlando, nicknamed the Pride, was unveiled on Oct. 20 and is set to begin playing in 2016 as the league's 10th team. Wahl believes that Morgan going to an expansion team will benefit the league.

"Morgan, 26, is the most popular U.S. women's player and one of the most dangerous scorers in world soccer," Wahl wrote. "It's probably a good thing for the growth of the NWSL that Morgan will go to a new market where she can help galvanize the fanbase."

With the arrival of Orlando City in the MLS this season already demonstrating the fanbase can support a professional team, president Phil Rawlins knows this new side will succeed, as he told Paul Tenorio of the Orlando Sentinel.

"We've proven this marketplace is thirsty for soccer," Rawlins said. "It's the soccer capital of the South and those are not just hollow words or a statement anymore, they're proven with facts and data and economic impact behind them. So it's the right time."

The soccer hotbed of the South just received its long-term face of the franchise in Morgan, who will now face the task of growing the women's game throughout a new market. Already one of the most popular women's soccer players on the planet, with a World Cup win this summer and a spot on the new FIFA 16 video game cover, Morgan gives Orlando's new club a proven winner.