Women's football transfer fee record set to be broken again

It’s barely a month since Arsenal’s £1 million signing of Olivia Smith from WSL rivals Liverpool set a world record for a woman footballer.

But that record looks set to be broken again with the Mexican international Lizbeth Ovalle said to be in advanced talks for a move to US National Women’s Soccer League side, Orlando Pride.

Reports suggest a fee for the winger in the US$1.5-2.0 million (£1.1-1.5 million) range, which would set a new benchmark for the women’s game. Ovalle was linked with Barcelona earlier in the summer, but the financial travails of the Spanish club’s women’s team put paid to that.

While Ovalle has made more than 50 appearances for the Mexican national team, the 25-year-old has spent her entire eight-year career in her domestic league with Liga MX Femenil club, Tigres. Orlando Price would therefore be taking something of a gamble that their record signing can reproduce her form in a new country.

If the move comes off, it will have implications for the transfer market across women’s football as a whole, especially as Ovalle is not coming from one of the top global leagues. On that basis, it seems only a matter of time before the £2 million barrier is breached.   

Header Image: Colin Bradbury