Exciting transfer window will only exacerbate women’s football’s wealth gap

Alexis Putellas leads a host of stars expected to arrive in the WSL but smaller clubs will still struggle to keep pace

The whistle has blown on the 2025-26 season for the vast majority of women’s teams around the world, and attention now turns to the hullabaloo of the transfer window and another summer of rising wages, transfer fees and agents fees.

This summer’s activity is likely to see the gap between the haves and the have-nots widen further. Last summer there was an 83.6% increase in global spending on transfer fees in women’s football year-on-year, according to Fifa. This included headline-grabbing moves such as London City Lionesses’ £1.43m purchase of Grace Geyoro from Paris Saint-Germain, albeit London City have denied the figure is that high, and Arsenal’s landmark first £1m deal – the signing of Olivia Smith from Liverpool.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts will be sent out once a week, on Wednesdays, in the close season but will be back on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September.