It has been a quiet January transfer window in the men’s game, but the Women’s Super League (WSL) clubs have spent significant money.
Two teams who normally do their business in the summer — Chelsea and Manchester City — were the most active, with the former breaking the world transfer record for the second time in their history (after buying Wolfsburg midfielder Pernille Harder for a reported £250,000 in 2020).
Meanwhile, Arsenal have been relatively quiet despite having had past success at using the mid-season window to integrate players slowly.
But what have we learned from the past four weeks and what does this tell us about what’s to come in summer?
If you need to buy now, you will have to pay the right price
Chelsea and City have been the fastest movers, both of whom had key players, striker Sam Kerr and midfielder Jill Roord, suffer season-ending anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries last month.
In Kerr’s absence, Chelsea paid a world-record fee — a deal amounting to €450,000 fixed (£380,000, $485,000) plus a further €50,000 in variable amounts based on objectives that the club expects to be met — for Colombian international Mayra Ramirez. The 24-year-old forward has a release clause worth half a million euros.
Ramirez signed…
