It's not always obvious which are the biggest women's transfers just by looking at who has signed who each summer.
With less fixation on transfer fees in the women's game, fans can't always be sure which of their new arrivals warrant the 'big signing' tag.
But Keira Walsh's move from WSL side Manchester City to Barcelona for a fee of around £400,000 means that she is the most expensive women's footballer of all time. Walsh won Euro 2022 with England, nabbing an assist for Ella Toone's opening goal against Germany in the final.
The midfielder overtook Chelsea's signing of Pernille Harder in the summer of 2020. The Blues paid a fee reported to be in excess of £250,000 to Wolfsburg in order to make Harder the most expensive women's transfer at the time. Harder has long been regarded as one of the best footballers in Europe, having won the UEFA Women's Player of the Year award twice.
Most women's football players are signed for free, with global spending on transfer fees only amounting to £0.88m in 2020, according to FIFA. Five transfers alone made up 75 per cent of that total.
Therefore, we can't be absolutely sure what all of the biggest women's transfers ever are, but FourFourTwo believes the following are the biggest transfer fees paid…
What are the biggest women's transfers ever?
- Keira Walsh, Man City to Barcelona (September 2022), £400,000
- Jill Roord, Wolfsburg to Man City (July 2023), £300,000
- Lindsey Horan, Portland Thorns to Lyon (July 2023), £258,000
- Pernille Harder, Wolfsburg to Chelsea (September 2020), £250,000
- Lauren James, Manchester United to Chelsea (July 2021), £200,000
Before the Harder signing, the biggest women's transfer took place almost 20 years prior to this when Milene Domingues signed for Rayo Vallecano for £200,000. Domingues was at the time married to Brazilian star Ronaldo, and followed her husband in moving from Italy to Madrid.
The same summer that Chelsea signed Harder, Everton also turned heads when they paid around €100,000 (roughly £85,000) to sign French international Valerie Gauvin from Montpelier. The striker had scored 14 goals in 16 appearances for the French club as well as featuring at the Women's World Cup. She went on to score for Everton in the FA Cup final, despite her side eventually losing to Manchester City.
Lyon also got the chequebook out as their need to replace Lucy Bronze led to them spending an undisclosed fee to bring Australian right back Ellie Carpenter from Portland Thorns to the French champions. Although the fee has not been revealed, FIFA reported that it was more than what Everton had paid for Gauvin.
Meanwhile, Chelsea continued to splash the cash last summer by signing Lauren James from Manchester United in a deal expected to be worth up to £200,000, including bonuses. The 19-year-old, whose brother Reece is also at Chelsea, is highly regarded as one of the brightest young British talents. The signing is the most expensive women's transfer between two Barclays FA Women's Super League clubs.
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