European champions Arsenal have shattered the women’s transfer record by signing Canadian forward Olivia Smith from Liverpool for a fee of 1 million pounds ($2 million).
The new benchmark in women’s football surpasses the 900,000 pounds ($1.8 million) Chelsea paid for Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave in January.
“She’s one of the most-talented young players in the game and has huge potential for further development here at the club,” Arsenal director of women’s football Clare Wheatley said.
The 20-year-old Canada forward signed a four-year deal, a person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press.
The person, who also confirmed the record fee, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the full details of the transfer had not been made public.
Smith’s deal highlights the rapid increase in spending in women’s football, with transfer records regularly broken in recent years.
Zambia striker Racheal Kundananji set a new record when joining Bay FC from Madrid CFF for $US788,000 (587,000 pounds, $1.2 million) last year, and that figure was quickly exceeded by Girma’s move to Chelsea, becoming the first $US1 million player in women’s football.
Olivia Smith shone for Liverpool in a disappointing season for the club. (Getty Images: Jess Hornby)
As recently as 2020, the most expensive women’s player was Denmark’s Pernille Harder, who joined Chelsea from Wolfsburg for $US355,000 (264,000 pounds).
England’s Keira Walsh left Manchester City for Barcelona in 2022 for a deal worth $US513,000 (382,000 pounds), and Chelsea broke the record again in 2024 when signing Mayra Ramirez from Levante for $US542,000 (404,000 pounds).
But those figures are still a long way behind the men’s game where Neymar remains the record signing following his 2017 move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for $US262 million (195 million pounds).
Kylian Mbappe joined PSG for $US216 million (160 million pounds) and is the second-most-expensive player of all time.
The first player in men’s football to command a million-pound price tag was former England forward Trevor Francis when he moved from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest in 1979.
Smith became an international at 15
After one season at Penn State, Smith joined Sporting Lisbon in 2023 and scored 16 goals in 28 appearances. She moved to Liverpool last year and scored nine times in 25 games.
Smith is also Canada’s youngest international after making her debut at 15 in 2019.
“Olivia is an exciting young player and we believe she can make a big contribution here at Arsenal,” head coach Renee Slegers said.
“We’ve been impressed by her mentality and character, excelling in two European leagues at such a young age.”
Arsenal is a 15-time English champion and won the Champions League for the second time in its history last season.
Despite Chelsea being the dominant force in women’s football in England, Arsenal is the only English team to win the Champions League.
“It’s my dream to compete for the biggest titles here in England and in Europe and I’m excited to get started and contribute to doing that here with Arsenal,” Smith said.
Reuters/AP
