Arsenal to break world-record fee by signing Liverpool’s Olivia Smith for £1m

Arsenal have agreed the first £1m transfer fee in women’s football after Liverpool accepted a world-record offer for the Canada forward Olivia Smith, the Guardian understands.

The 20-year-old is therefore set to become the world’s first women’s player to break the £1m barrier, which was reached in men’s football in 1979 when Trevor Francis joined Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City.

According to sources, the fee agreed between Arsenal and Liverpool exceeds the US$1.1m dollars paid by Chelsea to sign the United States centre-back Naomi Girma in January, which set a new women’s world record at the time.

Smith scored seven times in 20 Women’s Super League appearances in her debut season in the English game last term for Liverpool, who finished seventh in the WSL. She netted just under a third of the team’s league goals across the campaign.

The young forward, who can play as a winger as well as playing in a central-striker role, joined Liverpool for a club-record fee believed to be just over £200,000 in July 2024 from the Portuguese club Sporting, and is understood to have multiple years remaining on her contract at Liverpool, but Arsenal have been prepared to pay a sizeable sum to secure her services.

It is understood Liverpool initially rejected several offers from numerous clubs for Smith which were deemed unacceptable, but with the agreement with the north London club, the Merseyside outfit are set to receive five times what they paid for Smith 12 months ago.

Arsenal are seeking to strengthen and continue their momentum after winning the Women’s Champions League title. They have already added Chloe Kelly on a free transfer from Manchester City and have signed the left-back Taylor Hinds on another free transfer, after Hinds’ Liverpool contract expired, but their move for Smith represents a far more sizeable financial investment.

Prior to Girma’s move to Chelsea, the Zambia international Racheal Kundananji’s move to Bay FC from Madrid CFF for a reported $860,000 in 2024 had been the world’s largest transfer sum for a women’s player.