Women’s football has seen impressive growth, breaking attendance records worldwide and securing highly lucrative television deals at increasing prices.
This revenue boom has led to a sharp rise in player valuations. In the winter of 2024 alone, the women’s football transfer record was broken twice, and it has since been surpassed once more. A U.S. defender now holds the title for the most expensive transfer in the history of women’s football. Let’s take a look at the top five highest transfers in the sport’s history.
Keira Walsh: €470k
From an early age, Peter Walsh saw his daughter’s natural talent. Their family holidays to Spain, where young Keira consistently outshone other kids during training, played a crucial role in refining her exceptional abilities. A lifelong Manchester City supporter, Walsh almost made the move to Barcelona, the home of the playing style she had known since childhood. She effortlessly joined the Catalan giants, undaunted by the world-record €470k transfer fee.
Mayra Ramirez: €500k
At just 16, Mayra Ramirez was already competing at Colombia’s top level, though she wasn’t an immediate standout in a league full of emerging talent. Despite this, the Levante striker was one of only two players to finish the 2022–2023 Liga F season with double figures in both goals and assists. Barcelona’s dominance in the league remained evident. After Sam Kerr suffered a season-ending ACL injury, Chelsea expedited Ramirez’s transfer to West London in January 2024, marking one of the priciest moves in women’s football.
Barbra Banda: €681k
In the spring of 2024, Zambia saw two of the highest-priced players in women’s football history. Barbra Banda became the third female player to secure a transfer worth over €500k when she joined Orlando Pride, just weeks after her compatriot Racheal Kundananji moved to Bay FC.
Racheal Kundananji: €805k
Before breaking the world transfer record in February 2024, Racheal Kundananji’s football journey began on the streets of Chililabombwe, where she played with a makeshift ball crafted from plastic bags. Focused on her goals, she moved to Europe in 2019 with Kazakhstan’s BIIK Kazygurt. Three years later, Spanish side Eibar came calling. Despite being offered five times her current salary to remain in Kazakhstan, she joined Liga F for a higher level of competition. Her remarkable talent soon caught the attention of Madrid CFF, one of Spain’s leading clubs, and in 2022, they signed her. After just two seasons, Bay FC splashed out a record fee to secure the versatile forward.
Naomi Girma: €1.06m
American defender Naomi Girma made history with her record-breaking €1.06 million transfer to Chelsea, making her the most expensive female footballer ever. This move surpassed the previous record transfers of Zambian internationals Racheal Kundananji and Barbra Banda to the NWSL in winter 2024.
