Chelsea have reportedly agreed a fee of around $1.1m (£900,000) to sign San Diego Wave’s Naomi Girma – which would be the highest transfer fee ever for a female footballer.
Girma would become the first million-dollar player in the women’s game if her move across the Atlantic is confirmed. The Athletic reported on Tuesday that the fee has been agreed, but Chelsea are still negotiating the 24-year-old’s contract.
If the deal is completed, it would smash the existing record of $860,000 (£685,000) paid by Bay FC for Zambia’s Racheal Kundananji in 2024.
Embed from Getty ImagesChelsea, seeking to provide cover for the injured centre-back Kadeisha Buchanan, fought off Lyon for Girma’s defensive services as they go after a sixth consecutive Barclays Women’s Super League title in Sonia Bompastor’s first season in charge. Girma drew global attention for her performance at the Paris Olympics, playing every minute of the USWNT’s run to gold. Manager Emma Hayes, who took the US job after leaving Chelsea, called her “the best defender I’ve ever seen.”
Girma, 24, joined San Diego as their first pick in the 2022 draft and has since been named the NWSL’s best defender for two seasons in a row. She helped the Wave to the NWSL Shield in 2023 and was nominated for the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year Award in 2024 (won by Zambia and Orlando Pride’s Barbra Banda).