What is the Highest Transfer Fee Paid for a Women Footballer?

Rapidly increasing amounts of money and growing interest in women’s football have seen a noticeable uplift in transfer fees in recent years. Although the figures are still tiny compared to those witnessed in men’s football, they are on the incline and it feels like only a matter of time before we see the first £1m women’s footballer.

We are not quite at that point yet though despite the top transfer record having been broken four times between 2020 and 2024. As well as looking at the current record holder, we will also take a closer look at the evolution of the most expensive fee.

Record Transfer Fees

What is particularly interesting about the most expensive female players of all time is that all transfers are very recent. If you look at the top prices paid for male footballers, from the top six deals, five of them occurred in 2019 or earlier.

In women’s football though, 14 of the 15 most expensive transfers occurred in 2023 or 2024. This emphasises just how much richer the sport has become very recently. Due to this, the current record set by Rachael Kundananji announced in February 2024 is unlikely to last too long. So, while the below list may change soon, here are the most expensive transfers as of November 2024. Prices are listed in Euros as this is the currency used for most of the deals. Where a conversion has taken place, the official figures are also provided.

Another interesting takeaway from looking at the top six most expensive transfers is that players moved to four different leagues (US, England, Spain, and Germany). If we extend this to look at the top 12 transfers, we also see Mexico and France make the list, giving us six nations in total. This shows there is less financial disparity among the top leagues in the women’s game compared to men’s. If you look at the top 12 most expensive transfers in men’s football, all of them are deals signed by clubs in just three leagues (England, Spain, France).

Before we digress too much though, let us focus on the woman who is number one on the list.

Racheal Kundananji

NWSL side Bay FC paid Kundananji’s release clause of $700,000 to bring the Zambian to California, which alone would have already set a new record. On top of this though the American outfit had to pay a 5% (€35,000) training fee plus they agreed €75,000 in add-ons. Time will tell if the 24-year-old Zabian justifies her huge fee although she has not enjoyed the strongest of starts at her new club.

Part of the reason Bay FC were so willing to pay so much money for the 2000-born player was her goal-scoring record. Across two league campaigns for Madrid, Kundananji made 43 appearances, scoring 33 goals. While already very impressive, nine of the appearances came off the bench. Converted to a goals-per-minute ratio, Kundananji was scoring a league goal every 99 minutes for her former club.

She has failed to replicate such form early on in his Bay FC career though. In her first 20 appearances, the Zambian netted just three goals (plus 4 assists) and was an unused substitute on two occasions. She is perhaps getting a little frustrated by her shortcomings in front of goal too as she collected six yellow cards in this time. You would be foolish to write her off so soon into a four-year deal but Kundananji needs to show a lot more to justify her record-breaking fee.

Highest Transfer Fee Progession

For almost 20 years, Milene Domingues was the most expensive signing of women’s football. Her move from Italian club Fiammamonza to Rayo Vallecano was worth $310,000 (£200k) at the time. What is particularly fascinating about this transfer is that Domingues was the wife of Brazilian superstar Ronaldo, who had himself just made the switch from Italy (Inter Milan) to Spain (Real Madrid).

⚽ Milene Domingues abrió los horizontes de la @PrimerIberdrola al mundo en 2004

💥 La ex mujer de Ronaldo fue la primera foránea que jugó en la Liga femenina española.

➡ https://t.co/jgQ6aaQXsd pic.twitter.com/2hO0fWz7oB

— Diario AS (@diarioas) June 15, 2020

So, not only was the move very convenient on a personal level, with Vallecano a Madrid-based side, but it gave ‘Ronaldinha’ a fresh challenge. A former model, Domingues also held the world record for the most consecutive kick-ups, an outrageous 55,187 in a feat that took over nine hours to complete.

It is fair to say that the £200k fee paid by Vallecano was not done so purely on footballing merit. Domingues was no amateur but she was barely even national team quality. When called up to the Brazil squad for the 2003 World Cup, it was such a shock decision that the manager, Paulo Gonçalves, had to address it face-on. He told the press that “she is between the 19th and 20th player” and ended up not playing a single minute across the tournament.

It was her high-profile celebrity status that was responsible for her World Cup call-up and this is also why Rayo Vallecano paid so much for her. Her fame came with such a premium that it took 18 years before a club paid more for a transfer fee. The new record-setter was Pernille Harder who moved from Wolfsburg to Chelsea. A move purely made on merit, the Dane spent three years with the Blue before moving to Bayern Munich.

To every Chelsea fan around the world. It’s been a dream coming true playing for this amazing club and I’ve loved every single moment along the way. Thanks for your unbelievable support throughout the years. It’s been an amazing journey. So much love, Pernille 💙 pic.twitter.com/pxNQoBUwrn

— Pernille Harder (@PernilleMHarder) May 18, 2023

The Harder transfer fee was then smashed by Keira Walsh’s move to Barcelona which was worth a reported £400k. It all gets a bit messy at this point as a bit over a year later Mayra Ramirez signed for Chelsea in a possible new world fee. The general sentiment seems to be that the overall value of the deal was worth more, but the necessary add-ons had not been met by the time of Kundananji’s move to Bay FC.

We have included the Ramirez transfer below as some sources have her as a former world record holder but this is a contested claim.