At the conclusion of Birmingham’s warm-up, the players quietly and carefully placed their footballs into a draw-string bag. All except one, Océane Hurtré, who nonchalantly chipped hers straight into the bag from about 15 yards. It was an innocuous moment that might have escaped most onlookers at Hednesford Town’s Keys Park but it demonstrated the swagger with which she is playing.

To observe the 22-year-old warming up before last week’s 1-1 League Cup draw at Aston Villa was to witness a player making skills look easy, taking one touch where others took two and pulling off no-look passes. She is backing up that panache in the Women’s Super League, as the joint-second-highest goalscorer with six from the promoted side’s opening eight matches. Only Khadija Shaw has scored more.

Add in two WSL assists and a goal and an assist on her France debut last month and it has been a breakthrough campaign for Hurtré that very few expected, except perhaps those who followed her career in France closely. They include the former France head coach Olivier Echouafni, who gave a 16-year-old Hurtré her professional debut for Paris Saint-Germain during the title-winning 2020-21 campaign, the only time a side have stopped OL Lyonnes from finishing top in the past 20 years.

“She listens to everything the coach says, she’s very attentive, she’s very focused,” Echouafni says. “She’s like a sun, because when you speak with her, there’s a big light. She was always quite skilful, moving the ball quickly to draw out her opponent, and had a good shot and delivered quality crosses.

“Back then, she lacked athletic stamina, the ability to sustain repeated bursts and sometimes also struggled in one-on-one situations because she was so young, but she has made great progress since then. She has also made great progress mentally – her move to Birmingham has done her a world of good.”

WSL fans are enjoying Hurtré’s pace, skill and general attacking threats, but imprinted in Echouafni’s memory are her defensive efforts as a youngster. He recalls Hurtré, on her second league appearance, against Paris FC in May 2021, replacing the Canada full-back Ashley Lawrence with two minutes remaining. “She cleared the ball off the goalline and prevented the equaliser,” he says. “It was a very important action because, one week later, PSG won the championship.”

To describe her as surrounded by experienced professionals at PSG would be a big understatement. When she had made her debut, in Europe against the Polish side Gornik Leczna, she was on the same team as a 42-year-old Formiga. Her gratitude to PSG is clear: she was spotted at the Joie Stadium last week watching Manchester City take on PSG in the Women’s Champions League, sitting just above her former club’s bench. PSG loaned Hurtré to Dijon in 2022 to gain more first-team experience and to Bordeaux in 2023-24. An injury at each affected her game time but she left a strong impression.

“I wanted to sign Océane for two main reasons,” says Sylvain Carric, Dijon women’s general manager from 2022 until 2026, who now runs Strasbourg’s women’s teams. “The first was, naturally, the quality of her left foot – it’s magnificent; she can put the ball exactly where she wants it. The second was her versatility. She’s capable of playing as a left-back, a winger or a No 8.

“Océane left a fantastic impression during her time at Dijon. She had the intelligence to come to Dijon to grow, rather than remaining on the bench at PSG. She was a very good player and an excellent teammate, always smiling. She has been supported by a very good inner circle, especially her father, who I believe played an important role in her success. As for her potential, it was obvious, especially given that left foot, but she just needed to adapt her physique for the elite level. Now that she’s brought all those elements together, I’m certainly not surprised.”

Hurtré took a risk when she joined second-tier Birmingham in the summer of 2025 but it has paid off after she helped them win promotion and she has goals against clubs including Arsenal, Brighton and Manchester City.

Birmingham’s head coach, Amy Merricks, said last month: “We’re incredibly proud of her. I’m not going to share it but, if I did share where she was when she first came in, people wouldn’t quite believe the turnaround. There were so many areas that she needed support with, transitioning to a different country at a young age. She’s learned English, which is a massive step.

“Everyone sees her work on the pitch but we are fortunate to see the amount of work she’s done of it, and it absolutely translates. She’s diligent, she’s a student of the game, and she thoroughly deserved the call-up [for France].”

Hurtré was rewarded for her strong start with September’s WSL player of the month award. Sylvain Jamet, a women’s football writer for the French magazine footofeminin, saw her play at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and believes Hurtré has become “a lot faster” at Birmingham.

“Her technical ability and her set-piece deliveries with her left foot stood out,” Jamet says of Hurtré’s six years representing France’s youth teams. “Since she’s arrived in the UK, they must have worked on her speed.”

Hurtré’s goal contributions in France’s 9-0 win against Latvia have boosted her hopes of a place in next summer’s World Cup. Jamet, comparing her to Chelsea’s left-sided France player Sandy Baltimore, says: “They’re competing for the same place with France now. She’s less explosive than Sandy, but she’s better technically for the crosses and passing. Baltimore’s obviously fantastic, more like a one-v-one player, taking on defenders.

“Hurtré can cross from anywhere, she can do what [David] Beckham did, basically, crossing from deep, crossing from anywhere. She had very good first cap for France. There’s a good chance she will be in the squad for the World Cup. I really expect her to get one of those 26 places.”