The world record transfer fee paid for a women’s footballer stood for 18 years between 2002 and 2020.
Milene Domingues, then wife of Brazil’s Ronaldo, had that status for nearly two decades after she moved to Spanish side Rayo Vallecano from Fiammamonza in Italy for a reported £200,000 ($250,000 at today’s rates). That was eventually surpassed by Pernille Harder’s move from Germany’s Wolfsburg to Chelsea for a reported £250,000.
Yet in the past 18 months, the women’s transfer record fee has been broken three times — including twice already this year.
In September 2022, England midfielder Keira Walsh moved from Manchester City to Barcelona for £350,000 (excluding add-ons), then last month Chelsea paid £385,000 (excluding add-ons) for Levante’s Mayra Ramirez — a deal which was eclipsed weeks later when Bay FC, a new expansion team for the 2024 season in the U.S. NWSL, forked out £630,000 (excluding add-ons) for Zambia international forward Racheal Kundananji from another Spanish club, Madrid CFF.
So why after being unchanged for so long has the transfer record in the women’s game been overtaken so frequently in such a short space of time?
Put simply, women’s football is bringing in more money and so some clubs are taking it more seriously.
“It’s a…
