Record Fees, Bold Moves, and a Historic Swap Deal: Inside the WSL’s Biggest Ever Transfer Window

As the Women’s Super League (WSL) returned last weekend, the transfer window came to a close, completing the squads within the top league of English Women’s football. With shock signings and records broken, this window will be one to remember.

At the start of the summer, on July 17, Arsenal signed Canadian forward Olivia Smith from Liverpool, for a world record fee of £1 million, the first ever seven figure transfer in women’s football. Aged just 21, she made her international debut at 15, and last year scored seven goals in 20 games in her debut WSL season. After the Gunners won the Champions League in May, Smith looks to bolster their squad, bringing pace and attacking intent, as she stated: “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.”

Another exciting young WSL forward is 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang, who made headlines bursting onto the scene at the Euros this summer as she scored late goals for England twice, helping to bring home the trophy. Whilst still on Arsenal’s books, Brighton has extended their loan for another season, where she will likely get more minutes as their first choice striker.

Some are celebrating the funding going into women’s football, and the slow move to the intangible amounts spent in the men’s game

Despite Arsenal breaking the transfer record early in the summer, the standout story of the 2025 window has been the activity of London City Lionesses. As the newly promoted club, and the first ever independent women’s team in the WSL, one might have expected a few new signings to help their squad settle into topflight football, but nobody could have predicted the extent of their overhaul. With a whopping 17 new players brought in, seven players ending their contracts, and six others
bought out by other clubs, this is an unrecognisable side compared to last season’s Championship winners.

They started the window acquiring Dutch midfielder Daniëlle van de Donk from Lyon, as well as English winger Nikita Parris on free transfers, and later in August bought WSL veterans Katie Zelem and Alanna Kennedy from Angel City FC for an undisclosed fee.

Finally, usurping Arsenal’s record already, on deadline day they signed PSG midfielder Grace Geyoro for a reported £1.4 million fee, as well as activating Lucia Corrales’ release clause from Barcelona for £430,000. With American owner Michele Kang unafraid to invest heavily, London City Lionesses must now justify their spending on the pitch, as anything less than survival would be a major embarrassment.

Manchester United made headlines on deadline day, completing an unprecedented swap deal with rivals Manchester City

Whilst some are celebrating the funding going into women’s football, and the slow move to the intangible amounts spent in the men’s game, others, such as Manchester United’s manager Marc Skinner, are less impressed. “If we’re being really honest, the window has gone crazy, right?” Skinner said. “The window and the market has just shifted so much.”

Another seven figure fee on deadline day was spent by Chelsea, as they spent £1.1 million on 20-year-old American winger Alyssa Thompson from Angel City, with apparently just one hour to spare before the window shut. With million pound signings becoming more frequent in the WSL now, there is increasing pressure for clubs to invest more in their women’s teams, as Manchester United fans called for in their opening game on Sunday, with fans pulling out a large sheet with ‘INVEST IN MAN UTD WOMEN’ on it.

However, Manchester United did make headlines on deadline day, completing an unprecedented swap deal with rivals Manchester City, that saw Lionesses teammates Jess Park and Grace Clinton trade clubs.

There seems to be too many attacking players and not enough positions over in the red side of Manchester

Giving the fans a goodbye on her Instagram after the deal was completed, Grace Clinton stated: “I feel the future of the club and I aren’t on the same page.” Contrastingly, Jess Park’s statement was much more complimentary of City, expressing: “This decision has been one of the hardest I have ever had to make but I just want to play football.” The deal seems to make sense for City, as Vivianne Miedema plays in the 10 spot, making Jess Park somewhat dispensable, and Grace Clinton will slot into the 8, reinforcing a strong midfield along with Yui Hasegawa at the 6.

However, United fans are slightly confused, as they already have a strong attacking midfielder in Ella Toone, and so unless Marc Skinner is looking to change formation to play two 10s, one of them will be on the bench, which doesn’t really align with Jess Park’s statement that she ‘just wants to play football’. She could play on the right or left wing, but with United also signing left forward Fridolina Rolfo this summer, there seems to be too many attacking players and not enough positions over in the red side of Manchester.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how each new signing makes their impact on their clubs, whether record transfer fees will pay off, and if newcomers can meet the weight of expectation in the new season of the Women’s Super League.