Everton's Izzy Christiansen has said she nearly quit football after suffering a broken leg that damaged ligaments in her ankle.

The forward sustained the injury in a SheBelieves Cup match for England which subsequently led to her discussing with her mum whether or not to hang up her boots.

Speaking to The Telegraph, she said: “'I want to give up. I don’t want to play anymore’ [she told her mum]. My mum was really supportive. ‘Whatever you want, we’ll support, because your livelihood is more important than a game that revolves around a ball’. 

"Of course it’s crossed my mind, and I think it’s crossed a lot of people’s minds. It’s just when you get in a bad place. But I knew that was not the right thing to do. It wasn’t necessarily a serious thought – just emotional.”

She also revealed that she 'struggled mentally' while playing at French club Lyon after moving to the European giants from Manchester City in 2018.

“When I first moved to Lyon, I struggled in terms of establishing myself within the team, just as a person," she added.

"Maybe not many people understood me. With that, with the language barrier, I just didn’t really connect with anyone. Being a bubbly, lively, jokey person in the dressing room, to then being a non-existent character.

“Lyon’s full of stars, world-class players. They don’t care what they say to people. They don’t care what they do as long as they win. No one really necessarily gets along with each other. It’s more like, ‘We’re here to do a job. We’re like a machine. We just keep rolling’. That took time to adjust to; to understand that people are not there to be liked.”

Christiansen moved back to Everton in January and said she is now in a positive place in every sense of the word.

"I’m in a really happy place, and a really nice club," she said.