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

Barcelona broke the world record to sign Lionesses star Keira Walsh in 2022 but that fee only ranks sixth among the greatest in the women's game now

As women’s football continues to grow worldwide, the sport’s transfer record does too. In fact, the money Chelsea parted with back in the summer of 2020 to sign Pernille Harder for the greatest fee in the history of the women’s game is now some way down the list of the most expensive , with 17 more lucrative deals having been made in the short time since.

Keira Walsh took Harder’s place and moved to the top of that list in the summer of 2022, but her transfer from Manchester City to Barcelona is now only seventh, with the midfielder herself actually part of a more expensive deal in January 2025, when she moved back to England to join Chelsea.

So, what are the most lucrative transfers in the history of women’s football? بالجم breaks down the most expensive deals the sport has seen to date…

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

As women’s football continues to grow worldwide, the sport’s transfer record does too. In fact, the money Chelsea parted with back in the summer of 2020 to sign Pernille Harder for the greatest fee in the history of the women’s game is now some way down the list of the most expensive transfers, with 17 more lucrative deals having been made in the short time since.

Keira Walsh took Harder’s place and moved to the top of that list in the summer of 2022, but her transfer from Manchester City to Barcelona is now only seventh, with the England midfielder herself actually part of a more expensive deal in January 2025, when she moved back to England to join Chelsea.

So, what are the most lucrative transfers in the history of women’s football? بالجم breaks down the most expensive deals the sport has seen to date…

Just a few weeks after she helped Brazil reach the final at the 2024 Olympic Games, Gabi Nunes found herself heading to after they made her their record signing on the women’s side ahead of the 2024-25 season. Nunes had just had her best season yet in , scoring 11 goals in 28 league games, prompting Villa to trigger the €300,000 (£250,000/$333,000) release clause in her Levante contract.

The 27-year-old has immediately become a regular starter at Villa, though her first year at the club has been impacted by the team’s overall struggles, with head coach Robert de Pauw leaving the club in December.

Manchester ‘s biggest signing in the history of the women’s team came in the summer of 2023, when they paid €300,000 (£256,000/$326,000) to sign Geyse from Barcelona. The Brazilian netted 11 times in her only season in Catalunya, despite not always starting, and had a sublime season in Spain just before that, when she scored 20 in 27 league outings for Madrid CFF.

Sadly, she hasn’t been able to hit those heights in England just yet, with injuries and other external factors playing their part in that at times.

When Jill Roord moved from Arsenal to Wolfsburg in 2021, the fee of over €100,000 (£87,000/$122,000) was a record paid by a Frauen-Bundesliga team. When she moved back to England some two years later, though, her value had more than trebled with Manchester City paying more than €350,000 (£300,000/$382,000) to secure her services.

Roord was an instant hit, too, scoring six goals in her first 11 WSL games to mark herself out as one of the division’s most impressive performers through the first half of the 2023-24 season. Sadly, a brutal ACL injury cut that first campaign with City short, but the international has shown good form upon her return to action as well.

Ewa Pajor had interest from several top clubs before she eventually moved to Barcelona in the summer of 2024, for a fee that was reported to be around €400,000 (£338,000/$429,000). The Poland international had established herself as one of the most fearsome strikers in the women’s game during her nine years at Wolfsburg and has quickly translated that form to her new environment, hitting 26 goals in all competitions before the February international break.

Another Wolfsburg player who had several suitors in the build-up to her departure from the club in 2024 was Lena Oberdorf, who eventually moved to Bundesliga rivals . The transfer was announced in February and went through at the end of the 2023-24 season, after Bayern triggered the €400,000 (£340,500/$429,000) release clause in her contract.

Sadly, the Germany star has yet to debut for her new club, having suffered a devastating ACL injury in the summer. It also meant she missed out on the Olympic Games in Paris, at which her country won a bronze medal.

The first of two appearances on this list for a player who is still only 21 years old, Tarciane joined the Houston Dash in the in April 2024, after making herself well-known as one of Brazil’s most exciting talents. The towering centre-back had already debuted for the senior national team when she left Corinthians for a fee that has been reported at different values. In the U.S, it has been widely presented as a deal worth $485,000 (£346,000).

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.

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.

Walsh then 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), BBC Sport understands that the total deal, including add-ons, could be worth up to a remarkable £800,000 ($1,007,600) in the end. The Blues had been looking for a top level holding midfielder for some time and were one of the clubs linked with Oberdorf before her move to Bayern. In Walsh, they have certainly purchased exactly that.

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 .

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.

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. ليكيب 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 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.