• Loading stock data...
Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Naomi Girma Set to Be First $1 Million Transfer in Women’s Soccer

The deal with Chelsea would make her the first women’s player to command a seven-figure transfer fee for her old club.

Naomi Girma
Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

U.S. women’s national team defender Naomi Girma is close to signing a deal that would reset the bar in women’s soccer.

Chelsea has agreed to pay a record $1.1 million transfer fee for the San Diego Wave defender, according to The Athletic, which would be the first seven-figure transfer fee in women’s soccer. The negotiations aren’t yet finalized, the outlet reported.

Girma went to San Diego for preseason training camp, but she has wanted out of the organization. She has also reportedly fielded a $1 million transfer fee offer from Lyon, and Arsenal was also interested. Girma is signed with the Wave until 2026.

Representatives for Girma, Chelsea, and the Wave did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Girma played every minute of the USWNT’s gold-medal-winning campaign in the Paris Olympics this summer, the only field player to do so. She was the NWSL’s Rookie of the Year in 2022 and Defender of the Year in 2022 and 2023. The 24-year-old played college soccer at Stanford where she won the 2019 national championship, and was selected by the Wave as the first pick in the 2022 NWSL draft, the same year she began playing for the USWNT.

USWNT coach Emma Hayes—the former manager of Chelsea where she led the team to seven Women’s Super League titles and five FA Cups—has called Girma “the best defender [she’s] ever seen.”

The current highest transfer fee in women’s soccer was paid by Bay FC to Madrid CFF for Racheal Kundananji in February 2024 for about $789,000 with $75,000 in “performance-based add-ons.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Parker

Women’s College World Series Is Tight but Lucrative Earning Window for Softball..

Brands are navigating the brief but popular annual softball showcase.
LeBron James

Adam Silver: All-Star Game Will Be USA vs. World in Daytime Event

The NBA tried a tournament last year that fell in ratings.
Jun 2, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders players celebrate after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners 3-2 and advance to the finals against Texas in the NCAA Softball Women's College World Series semifinal game at Devon Park.

How Texas Tech Put Together Its First-Ever Women’s College World Series Run

AD Kirby Hocutt speaks with FOS about the Red Raiders’ winning formula.
Hilary Knight

PWHL Teams Risk Losing Superstars in Expansion Draft

The league only permitted teams to initially protect three players each.

Featured Today

May 27, 2015; Paris, France; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) knocks the clay off her shoe during her match against Simona Halep (ROU) on day four of the French Open at Roland Garros

Roland-Garros’s Iconic Red-Clay Surface Is a Precise Alchemy

The exact science behind maintaining the French Open’s red clay.
Alex Jensen introductory press conference on Monday, March 17, 2025.
June 3, 2025

Alex Jensen Started Utah Utes HC Job While Still Coaching the Mavs

How Jensen began building an NCAA program while patrolling the Dallas sideline.
May 31, 2025

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.

361st-ranked Boisson Stuns at French Open, Quintuples Career Earnings

The 2025 French Open is Boisson’s first Grand Slam.
May 31, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (USA), left, defeats Gabby Thomas (USA) to win the women's 200m, 21.99 to 22.10, during the Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at Franklin Field.
June 2, 2025

Grand Slam Track Investigating Man Saying He Heckled Gabby Thomas to Win..

The league announced a “full investigation into the reprehensible behavior.”
June 4, 2025

Stanley Cup Is Connor McDavid’s Chance to Cement All-Time Status

The Oilers superstar is mirroring the path of Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
June 1, 2025

Verstappen Nears F1 Suspension After ‘Mario Kart’–Style Mayhem

The Red Bull driver received penalty points in Sunday’s race.
John Haliburton
May 28, 2025

John Haliburton’s Brief Ban Ends With Pacers on Brink of Finals

John Haliburton was sitting in a suite instead of his usual courtside seat. 
Cousins
May 27, 2025

Kirk Cousins, James Cook Among Prominent NFL OTA Absences

The NFL’s 2024 rushing touchdowns leader was among the absences Tuesday.
May 27, 2025

Dodgers’ Biggest Deadline Pickup Might Already Be in L.A.

Ohtani faces batters as a pitcher for the first time in 21 months.