What are the most expensive women’s football transfers of all time? The 50 highest fees in history

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 17 Jul 2025 05:08 CDT
• 7 min read

Olivia Smith is the most expensive female footballer of all time, courtesy of her transfer from Liverpool to Arsenal in July 2025.

Smith joined the Gunners for a reported transfer fee of €1.16 million, and she set a historic landmark as she became the first women's player in history to move clubs for a price of £1m.

Women's football has come on leaps and bounds over the past decade and female players have begun to receive huge recognition for their incredible talent.

READ MORE: What are the most expensive transfers of all time? The 50 highest fees in history

England's victory in the delayed 2021 Women's European Championships took the game to new levels, with the attendance at Wembley's final breaking the record for a Euros final for both the men's and women's game.

However, despite increases to the finances in the game, such as prize money for the Women's FA Cup, there is still a huge disparity in the wealth between men's and women's football.

What are the biggest women's soccer transfers of all time?

Neymar’s record-breaking move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for €222 million is put into yet more perspective when comparing it to his female counterpart, Smith.

The women's world record transfer fee has been broken several times over the past few years, with Naomi Girma, Racheal Kundananji, Mayra Ramirez and Keira Walsh all briefly becoming the most expensive female player of all time since 2022.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through the most expensive women's football transfers in history.

The 50 most expensive women's football transfers of all time

Who is the most expensive women's football transfer of all time?

Olivia Smith became the most expensive women's footballer of all time when Arsenal bought her for €1.16m in July 2025.

Who is the most expensive women's goalkeeper of all time?

Phallon Tullis-Joyce - €150k (OL Reign to Man Utd, 2023)

American Phallon Tullis-Joyce is the most expensive goalkeeper in women's football history. She cost Man Utd €150,000 when they signed her from OL Reign on Transfer Deadline Day in 2023.

The record was previously held by Canadian shot-stopper Kailen Sheridan. San Diego Wave paid €115,000 to purchase her from Gotham in 2021.

Who is the most expensive women's defender of all time?

Naomi Girma - €453k (San Diego Wave to Chelsea, 2025)

Naomi Girma became the most expensive defender in women's football history when she swapped San Diego Wave for Chelsea in 2025. It cost the WSL giants over €1m to bring her to England.

Previously, the record was held by Tarciana, courtesy of her €453k transfer from Corinthians to Houston Dash in 2024.

Who is the most expensive women's midfielder of all time?

Keira Walsh (Barcelona to Chelsea, 2025) - €550k

Incredibly, Keira Walsh is both the most expensive and second-most expensive midfielder in women's football history. She initially broke the world transfer record when she moved from Man City to Barcelona for €470k in 2022.

Two and a half years later, Chelsea brought her back to England for a transfer fee worth €550k.

Who is the most expensive women's forward of all time?

Olivia Smith (Liverpool to Arsenal, 2025) - €1.16m

As the world's most expensive women's player, Olivia Smith is also the priciest forward ever.

She joined Arsenal after scoring nine goals in 25 appearances for Liverpool.

What was the first world record fee for a women's footballer?

The former wife of Brazilian superstar Ronaldo Nazario, Milene Domingues, was signed by Rayo Vallecano for a world-record fee back in 2003, although much of their reasoning was simply for the potential economic gain the club could receive, rather than her ability on the pitch.

In fact, due to Spanish rules, Domingues was unable to actually play competitive games for the club. She could only feature in friendly matches.

She became famous long before her move to Spain, joining Corinthians' women’s side in her homeland of Brazil at the age of 14. She began to perform half-time ball-juggling entertainment and three years later she set a new world record of 55,187 consecutive keepy-uppies, a feat that took over nine hours to complete.

After marrying Ronaldo and carrying their child, she decided to return to football and joined Italian side Fiamma Monza while Ronaldo was at Inter Milan.

However, when Ronaldo left Inter to join Real Madrid, Domingues followed suit in departing Italy. Her arrival in the country provided an opportunity to raise the profile of the women’s game by adding the wife of Ronaldo to their league.

She chose to join Rayo Vallecano and earned a reported annual wage of €36,000 to become the most well-paid female player in the country. In fact, she was one of very few women to be paid to play football.

However, she soon discovered she wouldn’t be able to play professionally for the club as only Spanish players were allowed to play in the women’s top division at the time.

Due to her desire to play competitively, Domingues arranged to fly to her former club Fiamma Monza every weekend to ensure she was able to compete.

At the time she spoke of the issue, saying: “Football is my passion. I took three years out when I had Ronald and I missed it so much. It's something you can only do when you are young and I have to take advantage now Ronald doesn't need me so much.

“Also Italian football is more developed than Spanish women's football and the league here is much more competitive."

Domingues became the face of women’s football due to her marriage with Ronaldo, her ball-juggling record and her modelling.