Aurora Galli on her ACL journey, hopes for 2026, and her dream to open a restaurant!

Upfront - A Women's Football Podcast

Stak Production

Girls Football, Womens World Cup, Chloe Kelly, Lionesses, Nwsl, Football, Womens Football, England Womens, Keira Walsh, Womens England Football, Sports, Leah Williamson, Soccer, Womens Sports, Womens Soccer, Female Sports

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For our final episode of 2025, we’re joined by a player who we have wanted on the pod since the very beginning!

Aurora Galli - otherwise known by her nickname Yaya - is one of the best personalities in the WSL and since joining Everton back in 2021, she has rapidly become a fan favourite on Merseyside.

But on the opening day of last season, Galli ruptured her ACL. Apart from a brief return in May, it has kept her sidelined for over a year and meant that she missed out on a generational Euros for Italy.

So today, we’re getting to know Yaya, reflecting on the past year, and looking ahead to a new chapter in 2026. Plus, she tells us all about her dreams of one day opening a restaurant...

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Upfront. I'm Chloe Morgan. And I'm Rachel Sullivan. Our final episode of 2025. And we're joined by someone who we've basically wanted on the pod since we first started. Aurora Gali, otherwise known by her nickname Yaya, is one of the best personalities in the WSL, an incredibly talented player. When she joined Everton in
0:22.0	2021, she was the first Italian to sign for an English top flight club, and since then,
0:27.2	she's become an absolute fan favourite on Merseyside. But on the opening day of last season,
0:32.6	Garley ruptured her ACL, and it kept her sideline for over six months and meant she missed
0:36.9	out on a generational
0:38.0	euros for Italy. She then suffered another setback which kept her out of the squad until
0:42.7	Everton's huge win over Chelsea. So today, we're getting to know Aurora Gali reflecting on the
0:48.4	past year and looking ahead to a new chapter in 2026.
0:56.1	Welcome to the pod, Yaya.
0:58.0	Thank you so much for joining us. We've been wanting to get you on for such a long period of time.
1:01.2	It's absolutely crazy.
1:02.3	So it feels like a real kind of like Christmas treat for us that finally we've managed to make
1:06.5	that happen.
1:07.1	And also a massive, massive shout out to Joe for sorting this out for us as well. How are you planning to unwind during the break? What are you doing with your time off?
1:15.6	Well, first thank you to invite me and sorry that I just wait so much time to join you.
1:23.6	Yeah, for Christmas I think that I will just go home to my parents, spend the time with them.
1:32.3	And for New Year's Eve, I have plans, some plans with some friends.
1:39.1	So just spend time with my family and my friends.
1:44.5	And what kind of things we be getting up to?
1:46.4	I mean, obviously, like the New Year's plan sound quite exciting.
1:49.1	Are they going to be big things?
1:50.3	We're quite a low-key kind of Jules Holland watching the fireworks type of person.
	...

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