Pugh, seen here last year in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland, has been acquired by the Washington Spirit of the NWSL.

Let the Mallory Pugh era begin in Washington. On Saturday the Washington Spirit took a significant step towards upgrading their roster and their improving their reputation by acquiring United States Women’s National Team forward Mallory Pugh.

Pugh comes to the Spirit after the club acquired the number one position in the NWSL Distribution Ranking Order. The Distribution Ranking Order is a process where clubs can bid on the right to sign top-level players. As per league policy exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Although she is just 19 years old Pugh has already built a reputation as one of the top forwards in U.S. Soccer. In 2016 she earned the Golden Ball award at the under-20 World Cup, leading the U.S. to their third title. She has also made 22 appearances for the senior side, scoring four goals. Since she is a USWNT player her contract will be subsidized by U.S. Soccer.

There was some speculation that she might not sign with the Spirit. According SI’s Grant Wahl reported  that Pugh had received a contract offer from Paris St. Germain. That same report also indicated that Pugh did not want to play in Washington and that her first choice was to play for the Portland Thorns. However Wahl revealed that “Washington owner Bill Lynch does not want to trade Pugh’s rights and has a major beef with Portland over its signing of former Spirit coach Mark Parsons.” Parsons was the coach of the Spirit from 2013-2015.

The Washington Post’s Steven Goff also reported that Spirit GM and Head Coach Jim Gabarra flew to Los Angeles last week to meet with Pugh. According to Goff’s report U.S. Soccer’s Sunil Gulati also became involved in negotiations. With Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Heather O’Reilly  and Crystal Dunn all playing in Europe the perception of a top young USWNT player going to Europe would have likely damaged the reputation of the NWSL.

With Pugh the Spirit now have a young dynamic striker to build the club around. Gabarra likes to operate out of a 4-4-2 and with the success of Francisca Ordega this season Pugh’s addition likely means Katie Stengel will be coming off of the bench.

Pugh is eligible to start training with the Spirit this week and may be available for the club’s home match next Saturday against FC Kansas City (7pm EST GO90).