The end of the Women’s Super League transfer window on Thursday saw the league’s newest club reportedly destroy the world record fee for a women’s footballer.
Newly promoted London City Lionesses have made a number of statement signings as they embark on their first season in the top tier under French head coach Jocelyn Precheur.
England international Nikita Parris, Dutch midfielder Danielle van de Donk and Spain defender Jana Fernandez are among the new recruits at a club that already boasted 200-cap Sweden icon Kosovare Asllani.
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Nikita Parris (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Lionesses, who play at Bromley’s Hayes Lane ground, spent a reported £433,000 to bring Spanish forward Lucia Corrales to England earlier on deadline day.
But they saved the biggest until last to become the third team in two months to break the world transfer record.
London City’s Sweden star Kosovare Asllani (Image credit: David Lidstrom/Getty Images)
“It follows Olivia Smith’s £1m move from Liverpool to Arsenal in mid-July, the first that broke the £1m barrier, and Lizbeth Ovalle’s $1.5m (£1.1m) transfer to the American club Orlando Pride from the Mexican side Tigres,” report Tom Garry and Suzanne Wrack of The Guardian.
The London club parted with a record fee of £1.43m to acquire Grace Geyoro, the French midfielder, from Paris Saint-Germain.
Geyoro, 28, is one of the most admired players in the women’s game. She played professionally for PSG for more than a decade and has represented France on more than 100 occasions.
The financial firepower behind the Lionesses’ promotion and summer spending spree is Michele Kang, who is also the president of Lyon and the majority owner of their celebrated women’s team, as well as the majority owner of Washington Spirit of the NWSL.
London City Lionesses’ new signing Grace Geyoro (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Guardian reports that London City have denied paying a world record fee for Geyoro, with a spokesperson for the club stating that the fee being widely reported on Friday was wide of the mark.
According to Garry and Wrack, Manchester United manager Marc Skinner addressed the deal ahead of the start of the new WSL season this weekend.
London City Lionesses’ new signing Grace Geyoro (Image credit: Getty Images)
“If we’re being really honest, the window has gone crazy, right?” said Skinner. “The window and the market has just shifted so much. Who would have thought that in this window, we’d have four £1m players? I think we [United] won’t be able to go to those levels.”
Skinner warned that the pressure would be on the promoted club to deliver. London City kick off their WSL campaign in style on Saturday, taking on European champions Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in a game that will be televised live on the BBC.
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