A week before she broke the women’s world transfer record on Feb. 14, Racheal Kundananji was trying to carry on her life as normal, knowing that talks were ongoing between her club, Madrid CFF, and NWSL expansion franchise Bay FC. She was out for dinner in Madrid when an urgent meeting popped up on her phone’s calendar; she headed back to her apartment immediately, but delays on the metro meant she arrived 15 minutes late.
When she logged on, she joined a video call that spanned three continents: herself in Europe; her agent, Chris Atkins, in Hong Kong; and Bay FC general manager Lucy Rushton in Santa Barbara, California, at a preseason camp. It was then that Rushton took a deep breath and told the 23-year-old Zambia international that her €735,000 ($787k) move to NWSL would set a new benchmark for women’s game. Kundananji simply smiled and said thank you.
Discussions between Atkins, Madrid CFF and Bay FC had been going on for roughly eight weeks. The initial fee — with another €75k ($80k) in potential add-ons — easily surpassed the previous…
