'statement Amount' - What First £1m Signing Will Mean For Wsl

Women's shot is group for a historical moment.

Champions League winners Arsenal person agreed a "benchmark" transportation interest and will soon compete nan first £1m signing of 20-year-old Liverpool guardant Olivia Smith.

Everything had been pointing successful nan guidance of nan first £1m signing arriving soon. Chelsea group a world grounds erstwhile they paid £900,000 to motion nan United States defender Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave successful January.

You don't person to look acold back, though, to find a clip wherever a nine paying successful excess of £1m for a transportation looked a distant prospect.

Not only is it a grounds fee, but it is simply a grounds interest for a subordinate who whitethorn find it "difficult" to instantly make it into Arsenal's team.

The Canada forward's transportation is symbolic of nan women's game's accelerated maturation successful caller years and nan precocious levels of spending it now takes to beryllium competitive.

"It's a benchmark figure," Football finance master Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport. "It's a connection amount. I deliberation it's awesome for nan women's game."

In 2020, Chelsea group a world grounds erstwhile they signed Pernille Harder for £250,000.

Just 5 years later, nan grounds is astir to quadruple.

Former England midfielder Izzy Christiansen told BBC Radio 5 Live that it was "massive" for personification who is still "in nan early stages of her career".

Maguire said it shows Arsenal's ambition aft winning nan Champions League and their desire to situation Chelsea astatine nan apical of nan Women's Super League.

He told BBC Sport: "It's suggestive of nan level of maturation successful nan crippled that we've now sewage clubs specified arsenic Arsenal who make much gross than immoderate nine successful League Two, astir apt 3 quarters of nan clubs successful League One and immoderate bottommost clubs successful nan Championship arsenic well.

"That's suggestive of nan maturation of nan game. They've sewage nan 17th highest attendance successful shot past play - that's men's and women's game, higher than immoderate clubs successful nan Premier League."

Maguire attributes nan accelerated financial improvements successful English women's shot successful caller years to nan England's Euro 2022 triumph, which helped to spark liking successful nan home crippled and entice a "different demographic".

The Lionesses' capacity astatine nan 2023 World Cup, successful which they were beaten successful nan last by Spain, helped to proceed nan momentum.

Revenues for clubs accrued by 34% crossed nan 2023-24 season, pinch Deloitte's Sport Business Group forecasting revenues to apical £100m crossed nan league astatine nan extremity of nan 2025-26 campaign.

"The Lionesses winning was a changeable successful nan limb for nan game," Maguire added. "That's encouraged a different demographic and if you return a look astatine nan group that spell to watch women's shot they thin to beryllium younger, location tends to beryllium much women watching, they thin to person a different mindset."

European shot has besides played a important domiciled successful expanding nan magnitude clubs spend, some successful position of really overmuch they tin afford, and nan levels of expenditure needed to increase.

"[The £1m fee] reflects nan measurement up you get successful gross from qualifying for nan Champions League.

"It's now allowing clubs, if they've been successful, to walk money, aliases if they want to get into nan Champions League past they realise that they person to put successful their squads, conscionable for illustration each forms of elite sport."

"It's nary astonishment that 5 of nan game's biggest transfers person travel since 2024: to beryllium capable to compete, clubs request to walk an ever-increasing amount.

"There's a premium," said Maguire. "Arsene Wenger ever utilized to opportunity that to get a 1% amended subordinate you had to salary 10% higher successful wages and 20% other successful transportation fees and I deliberation that's reflected successful nan women's crippled arsenic it should be.

"If you really want to person nan champion teams past it comes astatine a fiscal cost."

In nan past, grounds transfers tended to beryllium associated pinch signing nan game's biggest names. Harder was already 1 of Europe's champion forwards erstwhile she joined Chelsea.

But nan lawsuit is different pinch Smith. She signed for Liverpool from Portuguese broadside Sporting past twelvemonth and has spent conscionable 1 play successful nan Women's Super League.

Former Scotland skipper Rachel Corsie said Smith is simply a subordinate who will beryllium portion of Arsenal's semipermanent ambitions.

"I don't needfully cognize really easy she walks into that Arsenal team, evidently they won nan Champions League past play which makes them highly lucrative but they've sewage a awesome attacking threat already," Corsie told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It will beryllium a situation for her but astir apt an summation for Arsenal that they'll expect is possibly 1 of those signings who could beryllium astatine nan nine for a number of years."