DEL MAR, Calif. — Former United States women’s national team forward Alex Morgan said she believes the National Women’s Soccer League can still attract and retain top players even within the constraints of a salary cap.
“I think that there’s a lot of draw from both domestic and international talent for the NWSL, still, under a salary cap,” Morgan told ESPN in an exclusive interview ahead of the San Diego Wave’s retirement of her No. 13 jersey on Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). “But it’s a very personal decision and we have seen some top talent go overseas.”
The NWSL lost another top young player to English champions Chelsea this week when Angel City FC transferred 20-year-old forward Alyssa Thompson there. Thompson, a rising star for the U.S., had just signed a new contract with Angel City in January.
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San Diego lost USWNT defender Naomi Girma to Chelsea in January in women’s soccer’s first $1 million transfer.
Morgan is now a minority owner in the Wave, where she ended her nearly 15-year career in 2024. She first turned professional in 2011 in the now defunct Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), which lacked a salary cap and eventually folded after three seasons.
The NWSL’s salary cap is $3.3 million in 2025. It will rise incrementally over the next five years to $5.1 million in 2030, per the new NWSL collective bargaining agreement.
Morgan is a two-time World Cup champion and an Olympic champion. Her 123 international goals rank fifth in USWNT history.
Alex Morgan retired with the San Diego Wave last year. Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
She played most of her career domestically in the NWSL except for brief spells with Lyon, where she won a UEFA Champions League title, and Tottenham.
The NWSL, Morgan said, still strikes the right balance to attract top players. She sees the mix of salaries, improving facilities and competition as reasons the NWSL remains a destination.
“This is the most competitive league in the world, flat out,” Morgan said. “You look at game to game, you have to play your best players every single game. You’re getting challenged every single game. The bottom team can beat the top team. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing; it is the most competitive league.
“And I think that that attracts players, because it is helping you improve week in and week out. You’re not just looking at the big games once a month; the big games are every weekend.”
Former USWNT players Tobin Heath and Christen Press spoke about Thompson’s transfer to Chelsea on an episode of their “The Re-Cap Show” podcast, titled the “NWSL’s salary cap problem.”
“Over in Europe, it’s almost like one team has more power than the whole of the NWSL, and that’s really scary,” Heath said.
NWSL teams have remained competitive in the transfer market. The Orlando Pride set a new world record in August by paying Tigres $1.5 million for Mexican playmaker Lizbeth Ovalle.
Angel City fetched slightly less than that from Chelsea for Thompson.
London City Lionesses reportedly paid a world record fee to Paris Saint-Germain for French international Grace Geyoro — although London City has since disputed that, saying the fee was lower.
Still, there have now been a handful of $1 million-plus transfers in women’s soccer — all of which have been executed since January.
“It’s incredible to see the transfer fees now that there is the case for that and it is trending in the way that a lot of men’s football clubs and leagues around the world operate,” Morgan said. “There’s even more need for those academy teams for sure.
“It’s pretty incredible to see those numbers for women’s soccer — and that’s just now. We can talk in six months and we’re going to be talking about $2 [million], $3 [million], $4 [million], $5 million.”
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