Barcelona Women's five most expensive transfers of all time

Cameron Smith

• 21 Jan 2024 15:00 GMT
• 5 min read

Barcelona Women, more commonly known as Barcelona Femeni, are currently the best women’s football team on the planet.

They won the 2022-23 Champions League final, having finished second the year before, while they also tasted victory in 2021. As a result, Barca reached the final in three consecutive seasons as they usurped Lyon as the most dominant team in women’s football.

The Blaugrana also won four consecutive Liga F titles between 2020 and 2023, although they haven’t spent that much in the transfer market.

Unlike their WSL counterparts, Barcelona have mostly relied on free transfers and the use of their famed academy, but they do hold the transfer record for the most expensive women’s football player in history.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through Barcelona Femeni’s five most expensive transfers of all time.

5. Lucy Bronze - Free (from Man City, 2022)

As mentioned above, Barcelona have utilised the free agent market very well in recent years and as a result, Lucy Bronze is included in the list of their five most expensive transfers ever, despite joining on a free.

The England international is regarded as one of the world’s very best players and she enjoyed time at Manchester City and Lyon before signing for Barcelona in 2022.

Bronze moved to Spain on a free transfer after her Man City contract expired and she won the Women’s Champions League and Liga F double in her first season at Barca.

4. Asisat Oshoala - €20k (from Dalian, 2019)

Nigeria international Asisat Oshoala signed for Barcelona for €20,000 in 2019 after initially joining the club on loan.

She had previously played for Liverpool and Arsenal before joining Chinese side Dalian Quanjian in 2017. Oshoala signed for Barcelona on loan in January 2019 and scored seven goals in seven appearances for the Spanish giants.

Oshoala then joined the club permanently six months later after she became the first African to score in a Women’s Champions League final.

She was named African Women’s Football of the Year for a sixth time in 2023.

3. Lieke Martens - €30k (from Rosengard, 2017)

Dutch winger Lieke Martens joined Barcelona from Rosengard in 2017, with the Spanish outfit spending €30,000 to sign her.

Two years prior, Martens made history by scoring the Netherlands’ first ever goal at a Women’s World Cup.

She also won The Best FIFA Women’s Player of the Year award and was voted as the European Championship Player of the Tournament in 2017, the year she joined Barcelona.

Martens left Barcelona to join PSG in 2022.

2. Mapi Leon - €50k (from Atletico Madrid, 2017)

Barcelona signed Mapi Leon for €50,000 in 2017, poaching her from Atletico Madrid after she enjoyed an impressive stint in the capital.

This deal was a monumental one as Leon became the first female player in Spanish football history to move clubs for a transfer fee.

Leon was included in the FIFA FifPro Women’s World XI in 2022 and she won her fourth Spanish top flight title and her second Women’s Champions League title in 2023.

1. Keira Walsh - €470k (from Man City, 2022)

Keira Walsh became the most expensive women's footballer of all time when Barcelona bought her in 2022, nearly doubling the previous record.

Walsh was keen to leave Man City with just one year remaining on her contract and interest from several top European clubs, including Chelsea and Barcelona.

The last of Barcelona's bids was a reported €470,000, a world-record fee, and it was accepted shortly before the transfer deadline on 7 September 2022. She won the Women’s Champions League during her debut campaign in Spain.

The five most expensive Barcelona Femeni signings of all time