Women’s world transfer record history: Smith overtakes Girma

Less than two months after winning the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Arsenal set a new women’s world transfer record to sign striker Olivia Smith from Women’s Super League rivals Liverpool.

The 20-year-old Canada international, who made her senior international debut at the age of 15, became the most expensive women’s footballer in history when she officially completed her move to the Gunners on July 17.

Smith signed for Liverpool in July 2024 in what was a club-record transfer, and she scored seven goals in 20 games in her debut WSL season. Just one year on, she has become the first £1 million footballer in the women’s game.

Her transfer to Arsenal eclipses the previous world record, which had stood since January 2025 when USWNT star Naomi Girma joined Chelsea from San Diego Wave in a deal worth around £900,000 ($1.1m), breaking the $1m barrier for the first time.

Yes, there is still a long way to go before we get near the men’s record, set by Neymar’s €222m ($241m) move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. But the rate at which the women’s transfer record is being broken is rapid.

Here is an overview of the evolution of the world record for transfer fees in the women’s game from the past few decades, and those players responsible for breaking it.

Milene Domingues – Fiammamonza to Rayo Vallecano
€235,000 ($310,000), 2002

Also known as “Mika,” the Brazil international became the first women’s player to command a fee above €200,000 when she left Italian club Fiammamonza to sign for Rayo Vallecano in 2002. The midfielder moved to be with her then-husband, Selecao legend Ronaldo Nazario, who also left Italy for Spain in order to join Real Madrid.

Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out due to a Spanish FA rule stating that clubs were prohibited from fielding foreign players in competitive matches. Milene therefore never played a single game for Rayo and instead was given dispensation to fly back to Italy to rejoin Fiammamonza.

Nevertheless, she held on to the world transfer record for almost two decades.

Pernille Harder – VfB Wolfsburg to Chelsea
€280,000 ($334,000), 2020

After rising to prominence in Germany with VfL Wolfsburg, the Denmark international became the new holder of the record when she departed for Women’s Super League giants Chelsea after agreeing a three-year contract in September 2020.

The two-time UEFA Women’s Player of the Year subsequently went on to collect three WSL/FA Cup doubles over three consecutive seasons with the Blues, before moving back to Germany with Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023.

Keira Walsh – Manchester City to Barcelona
€400,000 ($470,000), 2022

The England midfielder shattered the world record in the summer of 2022 when she moved from Manchester City to join all-conquering Barcelona, who had previously become the first Spanish women’s club to win the European treble after claiming the league title, Champions League and Copa de la Reina the previous season.

Walsh was also riding high after starting every single game for the Lionesses in their triumphant run to glory at the 2022 European Championships, and duly sealed her €400,000 move (plus another €62,000 in possible add-ons) to Liga F during the final few days of the summer transfer window.

Mayra Ramírez – Levante to Chelsea
€450,000 ($488,610), 2024

Walsh’s record transfer lasted 18 months as it was surpassed at the start of the 2024 January window when Chelsea went big in order to land Ramírez from Spanish top-tier side Levante.

The 24-year-old had already scored six goals in seven games in Liga F when the Blues set a new benchmark in the transfer world by parting with an initial €450,000 plus a further €50,000 in potential add-ons.

Ramírez also became the most-expensive women’s player in British history (exceeding the €350,000 deal that took Jill Roord from Wolfsburg to Manchester City in 2023.)

Racheal Kundananji – Madrid CFF to Bay FC
€735,000 ($787,600), 2024

Kundananji is one of the most prolific strikers in women’s football and scored 33 goals in 43 league games for Madrid CFF before opting to move to NWSL and sign a four-year contract with San Francisco-based Bay FC

The base fee of €735,000 (plus a further €75,000 in add-ons) smashed the women’s transfer record by a significant margin, while the talented Zambia international also became the first African player, female or male, to break a world transfer record.

In March, her international teammate Barbra Banda moved to Orlando Pride from Shanghai Shengli for €675,000 ($740,000), but that only counted as the second-highest fee in women’s transfer history.

play

The history of women’s football transfer fees

Take a look back at the evolution of transfer fees over the last two decades in women’s football.

Naomi Girma – San Diego Wave to Chelsea
€1.04m ($1.1m), 2025

Seen as the world’s best defender, Girma is only 24 and became the first $1m transfer in women’s football when she opted to head to Chelsea in January.

The United States international was under contract with the San Diego Wave through to 2026, but made history as the NWSL club allowed her to depart for world-record fee.

Olivia Smith – Liverpool to Arsenal
€1.15m ($1.33m), 2025

While Liverpool could only muster a midtable finish and struggled to make headway in any of the domestic cup competitions, Smith was a stand-out player for her team in 2024-25 and ended the season as their top goal-scorer in both the WSL and across all competitions.

Her performances were obviously impressive enough to catch the attention of Arsenal, who have already bolstered their Champions League-winning squad with the addition of England international Chloe Kelly from Manchester City and former Liverpool captain Taylor Hinds, both on free transfers.