USWNT defender Naomi Girma She completed her move from San Diego wave To Chelsea and became the most expensive transfer in the history of women’s football.
The athlete I reported earlier this week Chelsea have agreed terms with the Wave to transfer Girma for a record fee of $1.1 million, according to sources familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The 24-year-old was under contract with San Diego until 2026, which is why the deal required a fee, making her the first women’s soccer player worth over $1 million.
The deal exceeds the previous record amount of 735 thousand euros paid by Bay FC to sign Zambian striker Rachel Kundanange From Madrid CFF in February 2024.
Girma has attracted significant interest from elsewhere in Europe, with eight-time European champions Lyon making a $1 million bid.
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“I’m very happy and really excited to be here,” Girma told Chelsea’s website. “It doesn’t seem real.
“There are a lot of things at Chelsea that made me want to come here – the culture, the winning mentality, the staff and the players. It’s an ideal environment to learn and grow.
“Right now, this is what I’m looking to do. It was an easy choice for me.”
Girma is presented at Stamford Bridge ahead of the Women’s Super League match against Arsenal (Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
The Wave were prepared to lose the center back for the 2025 season, having signed 17-year-old Trinity Armstrong from the University of North Carolina to a three-year deal last week.
Girma joined the Wave as the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft after playing with Stanford University at the collegiate level. She was named the NWSL Defender of the Year in 2022 and 2023 and was part of the Wave team that won the NWSL Shield in 2023.
Chelsea have now added more depth at centre-back after losing Canadian international Kadisha Buchanan to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in December.
Sonia Bombastor’s side top the Women’s Super League and have advanced to the knockout stages UEFA Champions League -The only competition they haven’t won yet.
Analysis from The Athletic’s senior soccer writer Jeff Reuter
When the United States won gold at the 2024 Olympics, Girma’s praise echoed as loudly as that of the 12-man attacking trio on the team. Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson.
Even with the advancement of modern metrics, it is difficult to quantify how valuable a defender is in numbers. Instead, a combination of data, eye testing and expert endorsement helped make one point: Girma quickly reached the top job of her job.
“She is the best defender I have ever seen in my life,” said American coach Emma Hayes, former Chelsea coach, after the crushing Olympic semi-final victory over Germany. “Never. She has it all: poise, composure, defending, anticipating, leading.
In this Germany win, Girma had more completed passes than any other player. It shut down Germany’s attackers whenever they approached the final third. She carried the ball 687 metres, 24 percent of the USWNT’s total distance, giving crucial time to her teammates to make off-ball movements.
For now, Jerma is in a class of her own. She is, by many people’s estimation, the best player in her position in the women’s game in the world. The case also thrusts her into the broader conversation about the sport’s greatest players. And on that front, they are on track to be among the best in USWNT history.
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How do Girma’s fees compare to others in women’s football?
Girma’s fee marks the fourth time the women’s transfer record has been broken in less than three years. It was broken twice within a month in 2024.
This is the third time Chelsea have signed a player for a record transfer fee for women, following the additions of Mayra Ramirez from Levante in 2022 and Pernille Harder from Wolfsburg in 2020.
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Analysis from sports tactics writer Michael Cox
Normally, it takes a few games for him to realize the full potential of a centre-back, but something about Girma is different. An excellent reader of the game, good at covering space at the back and able to fight physically without relying on physical strength, she appears to be a complete defender.
Perhaps the only thing it lacks is true air dominance. At 1.68 meters (5 ft 6 in), she is not a towering presence, and has won only 51.5 percent of her aerial battles in NWSL Last season, that’s not a particularly reassuring figure for a centre-back. But the fact that she can control her own penalty area despite a relative lack of aerial power almost adds to her aura.
It also says something about the evolution of the women’s game in general. While the men’s game has steadily weaned itself from the system of long balls and crosses, the women’s game has developed in a different way, more reliant on attacking the ground through technique or speed. There are only about 75 per cent more aerial battles in the Women’s Super League than in the league Premier LeagueFor example.
Being the most valuable footballer in the world does not, of course, mean being the best footballer ever. However, the centre-backs feel extraordinarily prominent. Even before Girma’s move, 10 of the 50 most expensive transfers in women’s football involved defenders, compared to just six of the 50 most expensive transfers in the men’s game.
For once, the next generation of footballers might grow up wanting to play in defence.
(Top image: Luis Robaio/AFP via Getty Images)
