When Chelsea broke the British transfer record to sign the Colombia striker Mayra Ramírez for €450,000 (£380,000) last January, the thought of that fee more than doubling in the space of a year might have sounded like a fanciful rate of inflation to some. But to those involved in the fast-evolving world of women’s football transfer fees, this week’s smashing of the $1m (£810,000) barrier has been on the cards for a while.
With Chelsea understood to have agreed personal terms with the highly acclaimed United States defender Naomi Girma for her world-record-breaking $1.1m transfer from San Diego Wave, the prospect of the first £1m move is surely now a mere inevitability, and the rise in prices certainly will not stop there. Indeed, it could already have been comfortably smashed for a winger or a No 9. Girma is arguably the best defender in the world – Emma Hayes labelled her the best defender she had “ever seen” – but she is, nonetheless, a defender. If a centre-back can attract a seven-figure transfer fee, what would the WSL’s top goalscorer Khadija Shaw be worth, or the Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí?
Arsenal reportedly came close to breaking the world record last summer to sign the Barcelona midfielder Keira Walsh and, while women’s football finances merely amount to change compared to the wages and transfer fees involved in deals such as Neymar’s £200m move to Paris Saint-Germain, the women’s game big-spending era appears to have arrived, after decades of neglect.
Yet in women’s football terms, even for most top-flight teams, this $1.1m Girma transfer fee is mega money. The fee is nearly a quarter of the total operating expenses of Everton’s women’s team in the 2022-23 WSL season, according to financial accounts published via Companies House. That season, Everton finished sixth. For the same financial period, Sunderland’s women’s team’s total operating expenses of £485,184 is a little over half of what Chelsea are understood to be paying in one transfer for Girma – and Sunderland are no minnows in the women’s game, now fourth in the Championship.
You do not have to drop much further down the pyramid – tier three, in fact – to find teams who have been unable to pay their players’ expenses or who allegedly could not fund a scan on a knee injury. And so as excitement accompanies Girma’s impending arrival, the women’s game would also do well to remember that this industry remains fragile and relatively embryonic in its growth.
For those at the top, though, the future keeps looking brighter and, with a star like Girma potentially being unveiled at Stamford Bridge as early as Sunday’s WSL meeting with Arsenal, the attention will be on her qualities and what a formidable acquisition she should prove to be.
To anybody who has been following the American women’s game in recent years, her rise comes as no great surprise. She was the No 1 pick in the first round of the 2022 NWSL draft after captaining Stanford University’s team in the college system.
There is also an undeniably inspiring element to Girma’s career journey as a woman born in California to Ethiopian-immigrant parents. She has made it to where she is through sheer hard work, practice and, frankly, by being an outstanding footballer.
For Chelsea’s rivals, though, her arrival is ominous. Sonia Bompastor’s indomitable team – already seven points clear at the top of the WSL and unbeaten this term – are chasing a sixth straight WSL title and will now have an even more unstoppable feel. They are also in the semi-finals of the League Cup and the Champions League quarter-finals. It is that latter, a so-far elusive competition, which they yearn for and hope Girma’s pedigree can help them to a first European crown.
after newsletter promotion
There was something of a necessity to this signing too, after their Canada defender Kadeisha Buchanan suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate knee ligament injury in November and the England defender Jess Carter moved to NJ/NY Gotham FC last summer.
However, the long-term nature of Girma’s contract makes it clear this is no short-term plan from the English champions. Their England centre-back Millie Bright is unlikely to be thinking about retirement soon but, at 31, it is doubtful whether she will have more than a few more years guaranteed at the very top level. In Girma, Chelsea will hope they have found a stable, dependable defensive wall around which they can build the foundations of further success for many more years to come.
For a decade they have been trendsetters in securing the top talent, breaking the British transfer record in 2015 to sign an up-and-coming young forward called Fran Kirby from Reading for a fee reported to be between £40,000 and £60,000. Just 10 years on, they are parting with over a million dollars for a player. The world will be watching to see who they sign next.
Source: theguardian.com
