The women's football market explodes: Alexia Putellas leaves Barca, Bunny Shaw pens record deal

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

The upcoming summer transfer window is set to be another record-breaking one for women's football, and one of the biggest moves ever has already been confirmed, with Barcelona announcing the departure of two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas.

The Spain international spent 14 trophy-laden seasons with the Blaugrana, playing an eminently important role in the club's ascent as the dominant force in European women's football.

Just last week, Barcelona easily dispatched OL Lyonnes 4-0 in the Champions League final to win their fourth European Cup. The Blaugrana have featured in seven of the last eight UWCL finals.

Putellas netted 232 goals during her lengthy Barcelona career, putting her at the top of the all-time charts for Barca Femeni and joint-second for the entire club, only behind Lionel Messi. She won a whopping 38 trophies.

However, the two-time Ballon d'Or winner will leave the club when her contract expires this summer. Alexia already fielded strong interest last summer and could have departed.

Putellas to England or the US?

Last year, PSG were reportedly ready to trigger her €1.1 million release clause, but Barcelona successfully convinced her to stay and see out her contract. The Parisians tried to sign her as a replacement for Grace Geyoro, who had joined ambitious WSL side London City Lionesses in a blockbuster Deadline Day deal.

This is also where Alexia could end up this summer. The Lionesses comfortably stayed up after their promotion, but it was a fairly underwhelming season given the money that was invested in the side. They ultimately finished sixth, nine points off fifth-placed Tottenham.

Sky Sports and the BBC report that the Lionesses are confident of wrapping up a deal for Alexia. However, The Athletic and Ben Jacobs state that her most likely destination is actually the NWSL.

The salary-capped US league created a High Impact Player (HIP) rule in the offseason precisely to be able to sign players like Alexia or to keep talented stars. The rule allows clubs to pay up to $1m more than the salary cap would otherwise permit on players that meet specific criteria.

Recent reports have suggested that the league is already considering doing away with the arbitrary criteria to make signing players even easier. Departing Chelsea striker Sam Kerr, for example, is a target for NWSL clubs but bizarrely does not fit the current criteria to qualify as a HIP.

Regardless of where Alexia ends up, this will be one of the biggest deals in the history of women's football purely by virtue of her achievements in the game. She will also certainly be paid handsomely, even if her move is a free transfer.

Shaw pens record Man City deal

It will be interesting to see if Alexia will receive a salary in the same ballpark as Khadija "Bunny" Shaw, who is believed to now be the world's best-paid women's player following her surprising extension at Man City.

The WSL Golden Boot winner looked set to depart for West London, where Chelsea had made her a lucrative offer to replace the aforementioned Kerr. However, according to Tom Garry, senior figures at City intervened over the weekend to keep her at the club.

Shaw has replaced Catarina Macario as the best-paid women's player ever. The USWNT star recently left Chelsea for San Diego in a High Impact Player deal and earns $8m over five seasons.

The Jamaica international's extension leaves Chelsea in an awkward position, as they will have to find a new top-level striker target. Whoever it will end up being, it will surely be a statement signing. That's how the Blues have generally operated in recent years.

Chelsea have been one of the catalysts of the recent explosion of the women's football transfer market. The world record is being broken on a yearly basis now, which is also reflected in players like Shaw and Macario signing increasingly lucrative contracts.

With Man City having finally broken Chelsea's stranglehold on the WSL, the Blues are surely bound to make some major, potentially record-breaking signings this summer. Arsenal, too, will have to make some major signings to replace plenty of departing talent.

An agreement with Bayern Munich and England star Georgia Stanway has already reportedly been reached, but that won't be enough for the Gunners to be able to compete with City and Chelsea next season.

The upcoming window will surely be the biggest one yet for women's football.