In a media availability days before the Spirit’s restart to the season, President of Soccer Operations, Haley Carter, turned fans and journalists into amateur detectives by announcing that the club had made three signings. Days went by, and nary a signing was announced. Then, suddenly, one finally came through. The Spirit announced that they’ve signed Monique Ngock, a midfielder from FC Fleury 91, and former teammate of Rose Kouassi. Ngock is a 21-year-old potential midfield star who’s been playing for her national team, Cameroon, since 2022.

The signing follows a couple trends that the Spirit front office has established. First, like Claudia Martínez, Ngock is a young and very talented player who’s already been named on several ‘next’ lists. Second, like Rose Kouassi (Fleury) and Elisabeth Tsé (Le Havre), Ngock is a standout talent on a mid-table team in the top tier of France’s domestic league, the Premièe Ligue. While the Spirit have also plucked players from similarly situated teams in others leagues—Gift Monday (Tenerife, Spain), Gabby Carle (Kristianstads, Sweden), Tamara Bolt (Internacional, Brazil)—the French league is becoming a bit of a favored place for them to hunt for gems.

Ngock may only be 5’3, but profiles as a defensive midfielder, or holding center midfielder. When it comes to midfielders, this specific profile is one the Spirit seem to actively seek. While there are differences in approaches to the position, defensive midfielder/holding center midfielder also applies to Andi Sullivan, Hal Hershfelt, Deb Abiodun, and even Rebeca Bernal when not at center back.

Back to Ngock though. In 2023 she received her NXGN Nine award as one of Goal.com‘s nine best teenage-aged players in the world. A winner from the previous season, and then-teammate of Ngock at Stade de Reims (she transferred to Fleury in ’25), Melchie Dumornay, personally delivered the trophy. Dumornay went on to sign at Kynisca sister club Lyonnes, and land herself on the shortest of shortlists for last year’s Women’s Ballon d’Or. Other names in Ngock’s class of nine that year were Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea), Vicky López (Barcelona), and Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid). As far as company goes, that’s as good as it gets.

What got Ngock this level of recognition is her instincts in midfield, primarily her ball-winning attributes, feel for the game, and press resistance. At the time, Goal.com‘s Ameé Ruszkai wrote the following about why Ngock was was chosen as one of the best then-teenage talents in the world.

A deep-lying midfielder, the 18-year-old oozes confidence when her team has the ball, often seen demanding it or being vocal in directing where it should go, if not to her. Her technical ability is excellent and her awareness impressive, while she also manages to blend together a simple passing game and the desire to go forward very nicely.

She joined Reims in the summer of 2022, and the French club look to have unearthed an absolute gem, one who has the potential to become one of the best in the game in her position.

Ameé Ruszkai, Goal.com

For reasons I won’t dive into here, a lot of FBref‘s data has been disappeared from the site (long story short, thanks/no thanks FIFA and Opta). But as far as pure counting statistics go, in the 24/25 Première Ligue season Ngock ranked sixth in total interceptions, and third in tackles won. Last season at Fleury, she was in a more cautious midfield two (often alongside former Spirit midfielder Inés Jaurena), but still managed to crack the top 10 in tackles won.

In possession Ngock receives the ball in midfield well, has a variety of feints and turns to evade pressure and open passing options to move the ball forward, and has a soft first touch that remains soft under pressure. Last year Blair Newman, a women’s soccer analyst who writes for Equalizer Soccer, posted a mini-thread about being impressed by Ngock. The summation of the thread is that they expected Ngock to pop up at PSG or Lyonnes in the near future. Thankfully for Spirit fans, Washington, DC is her next destination.

Well, eventually.

The NWSL’s secondary transfer window doesn’t officially open until July 14th, so international players can’t suit up for their teams until then. Beyond that, Ngock is expected to be with Cameroon for the Women’s African Cup of Nations tournament kicking off July 25th (ending August 16th). Cameroon aren’t one of the favorites to win or make the final, but they should make their way out of the group stage. It’s likely that Ngock won’t make her way to the United States until after Cameroon either win the tournament, or are eliminated.

When Ngock finally arrives and steps on the pitch in a Spirit shirt, she will be a player to watch closely. Her ceiling is somewhere floating in Earth’s exosphere, and she’s chosen the Spirit to help get her there. ◼︎