Michelle Agyemang’s rapid rise from a hat trick at the Under-19 European Championship to becoming England’s hero at the Euros has been an inspiring story. The 19-year-old phenom was a sort of super-sub for the Lionesses in the last two games, and the reason they’re in the final in the first place. Now, Emma Hayes has spoken about the young Lioness.

The former Chelsea coach, who led Team USA to a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, gave her two cents on England’s chances of defending their crown in the Euros. Naturally, one of the first names that came up was Agyemang’s. After all, the center forward has delivered clutch performances against Sweden in the quarters and the semi-final against Italy, and did so emphatically.

Replacing Georgia Stanway after 70 minutes against Sweden when England were 2-0 down, she scored the equalizer before England won on penalties. The super-sub did the same thing against Italy after stepping on the field at the 85th minute. However, Emma Hayes believes it’ll be far more difficult to replicate that against Spain.

“As good as Michelle Agyemang’s impact has been with her three goals in four caps, it is another jump up to do it from the start. There is so much a starting centre-forward has to do other than score goals,” the USWNT coach wrote for The Guardian. So Hayes believes coach Sarina Wiegman may not bump Agyemang up to the starting lineup, especially with Alessia Russo in her squad.

And guess what? The Lionesses’ coach also hinted that she isn’t immediately trying to put Agyemang in the starting 11. “She’s not forcing me,” Wiegman told the media about whether the stellar clutches by the 19-year-old have forced her to rethink. “She is very grateful that she gets minutes,” added the England coach.

Just four years ago, the 19-year-old soccer star was a ball girl at Wembley, and today she’s one of the reasons England is in the final. “From not starting at Brighton to getting lots more minutes, showing how good she is, and coming into our team, as things go it has been pretty smooth for her, and I think she feels very good about that,” said coach Wiegman. Yet, Spain will present a different challenge.

Emma Hayes cautioned the Lionesses

“Although Italy were good, they’re not at Spain’s level,” said the 7x FA Women’s Super League title winner about England’s upcoming opponents. Although the Lionesses are the defending champions of the Euros, their journey to the final has been a scrappy one. They’ve had several close calls and almost lost both the quarter and semifinal games.

Meanwhile, Spain has had a relatively smoother journey to the 2025 final. Just two years ago, Spain defeated England in the World Cup in Sydney, Australia. And if England allows them to score goals like they did against Sweden and Italy, not even their 19-year-old star may be able to claw this one back. However, Emma Hayes didn’t just have bad news for England.

The Ballon d’Or-winning coach explained how other teams have held Spain from scoring goals in the first half. The European powerhouse also commits too many players to the offense, leaving holes at the back. “That’s where their vulnerabilities are, down the sides of their centre-backs, as Germany’s chances in their semi-final showed,” said Hayes.

Then there’s England’s resilience. Despite being in seemingly impossible situations, the team has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat multiple times in the tournament. Recalling her days at Chelsea, Emma Hayes said her team faced similar situations. “‘How did we do that, how did we keep on winning?’ You have to talk about the mentality of all the players,” said Hayes, and she believes coach Sarina Wiegman is more than capable.