Women's transfer record history: List of the most expensive players in women's football

Another huge signing Barcelona made in the summer of 2024, Kika had become arguably the best player in Portugal before moving to Catalunya. Debuting for Benfica at 16 years old, she was 21 when Barca came in and paid just under €500,000 (£424,000/$538,000) to sign her. The young forward is continuing her exciting development nicely with the reigning European champions.

When Chelsea got the news that star striker Sam Kerr had suffered a cruel ACL injury in the first few days of 2024, they made a statement by making a big move in the January transfer window that would help make up for her absence. For a fee of €450,000 (£384,000/$486,000), the Blues signed Mayra Ramirez from Levante, after her impressive return of 22 goals in 38 games for the Spanish side.

Ramirez's arrival became all the more important when Mia Fishel, signed as a back-up to Kerr, went down with the same injury shortly after the transfer window closed. Indeed, on the final day of the WSL's 2023-24 season, it was the January arrival who put in a title-winning performance as Chelsea beat Man Utd to retain their league title.

The only transfer on this list which includes a non-American or European club as the buyer, Priscila completed a move from Brazilian club Internacional to Mexican side Club America in 2024 for a fee of $497,000 (£378,000). While the transfer fee converts to a smaller one than Ramirez's in some currencies, it was ranked as a more expensive move than the Chelsea striker's in FIFA's global transfer report for 2024.

Priscila had only just celebrated her 20th birthday when the transfer went through but she is handling the pressure that comes with such a high-profile move well and scoring prolifically for America.

It was no surprise when Lily Yohannes completed a transfer that landed her a spot on this list. The teenage midfielder exploded onto the Champions League scene in the 2023-24 season, starring for Ajax as they reached an historic quarter-final, and that helped put her back on the United States' radar, after she had seen limited action in the youth national teams. Indeed, a senior debut wasn't too far away, with the question suddenly when, rather than if, she would get a big move away from Ajax.

That came in the summer of 2025 when, despite heavy links to Chelsea, Yohannes joined eight-time European champions Lyon in a deal worth €450,000 (£390,000 / $525,000). She was only 18 years old when the deal went through.

Keira Walsh broke Pernille Harder's record as the most expensive female footballer of all-time when she moved from Man City to Barcelona in the summer of 2022, for a fee of £400,000 ($470,000). Walsh spent two and a half seasons in Catalunya, winning two Champions League crowns, two league titles, the Copa de la Reina and a trio of Super Cups in that time.

One of the lesser-known players on this list, many were stunned to learn that London City Lionesses paid €540,000 (£470,000/$628,000) for Lucia Corrales in the summer of 2025. That was the release clause in the 19-year-old's contract at Barcelona and, despite the club's desire to keep her in Catalunya, she departed for England when it was activated by the newly-promoted Women's Super League side, owned by billionaire Michele Kang. Corrales played 12 first-team games for Barca.

Barbra Banda had been lighting up the international stage for several years before her move to the Orlando Pride in 2024, but her club exploits were being conducted somewhat out of the spotlight, in the Chinese Women's Super League with Shanghai Shengli. That all ended when the Pride paid a huge $740,000 (£582,000) fee to bring her to the U.S. and thrust her talent back into the limelight on a regular basis. Banda's first season in Orlando was certainly worth the money, as her 17 goals in 26 outings helped deliver the club's first NWSL Championship.

Banda's move to Orlando was not a world-record fee, though, as it was just a few weeks prior when Racheal Kundananji, her Zambia team-mate, became the most expensive women's footballer in the world when she joined another NWSL club, Bay FC. The expansion side made a statement when they paid $862,000 (£685,000) to bring her to California from Madrid CFF, with whom she scored 33 goals in 43 league games.

The forward wasn't able to make as big an impact as Banda in her first season, though at least in part owing to Bay FC's status as a brand new team.

Walsh returned to England in January 2025, when Chelsea completed a sensational deadline day swoop for the midfielder. While the initial fee was reported at around £460,000 ($572,000), add-ons and bonuses meant to was likely to rise. By the end of the 2024-25 season, Spanish media reported that it had done exactly that, with the Blues ultimately paying €850,000 (£714,000/$884,000) for one of the best holding midfielders on the planet.

After just one season in the NWSL, Tarciane became the second most expensive player of all-time when she was signed by Lyon in February 2025. L'Equipe reported that the fee for the 21-year-old was around $960,000 (£762,000), a record for the French women's top-flight and a number that would have made her the world record holder had it been a deal that went through just a few weeks earlier.

But that world-record instead went to Naomi Girma, who was signed by Chelsea in January 2025 for £883,000, a fee that converts to $1,100,000 and thus makes her the first million dollar player in the women's game. Despite being just 24 years old, Girma is already widely considered one of the best centre-backs in the entire world, if not the best. It's a reputation she carved out in her first three seasons in the NWSL with the San Diego Wave and certainly cemented with her performances for the U.S. at the 2024 Olympic Games, at which she and her team won gold.

Girma held the word-record for six months, until Arsenal made Olivia Smith the first million pound player in July 2025. The Gunners fell victim to the 20-year-old's magic in the FA Cup quarter-finals earlier in the year, as she inspired Liverpool to an unlikely victory, so they were under no illusions when it came to her talent, so much so that they were willing to pay a fee never seen before in the women's game to secure her services.

There was a lot of different reporting about the fee Chelsea paid for Alyssa Thompson on WSL deadline day in the summer of 2025. Initially, the Athletic said it fell just short of the £1 million mark, before both the Telegraph and the Guardian suggested otherwise. The latter pair understood the deal to be a club-record for Chelsea, surpassing the fee paid for Girma, and said it could rise to become a world-record, though it appeared to be short of what the Orlando Pride paid for Lizbeth Ovalle to start.

Smith's move to Arsenal held the world-record for a women's transfer for little over a month, before the Orlando Pride paid an even greater fee to secure the services of Mexico sensation Ovalle in August 2025. The 25-year-old had previously been linked with every top club in Europe - with all of Barcelona, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Wolfsburg interested after her outstanding exploits with Tigres. However, the next chapter of her career will instead take place in the U.S, as she has signed for the reigning NWSL champions for a world-record fee of $1.5m (£1.1m).

A new women's transfer record was set on WSL deadline day in the summer of 2025 as London City Lionesses paid €1.65m (£1.43m/$1.93m) to bring Paris Saint-Germain captain Grace Geyoro to the club ahead of their top-flight debut. London City are backed by the billions of Michele Kang, who also owns PSG's bitter rivals Lyon, and the club threw that money around plenty in preparation for their WSL bow.