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The Women’s Super League returns from its winter break this weekend amid the most interesting January transfer window in the competition’s history.
Transfers of bigger players have traditionally been a male prerogative, with the vast majority of transfers involving WSL clubs coming on out-of-contract free transfers in the summer. The lack of money available to spend made winter operations a relatively unattractive option for women’s teams, but that is now changing and a number of factors have contributed to a very active start to 2023.
In special cases, clubs acted out of necessity. Title-chasing Arsenal have made big moves in the market mainly due to the unfortunate, long-term injuries suffered by two of their biggest stars, Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedemawho both underwent season-ending ACL surgery in December.
Jonas Eidevall’s side have signed Ajax midfielder Victoria Pelova, who played for the Netherlands at the Euros last summer, and have also signed one of Europe’s most sought-after teenage talents, young Danish midfielder Kathrine Kuhl and Canadian goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo. They have also recalled young Brazilian forward Gio Queiroz, on loan at Everton, in a bid to bolster their attacking options in the short term.
Arsenal would be hard-pressed to afford a quiet window, given they are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and chasing the WSL title, with both Manchester clubs breathing down their necks in a very tight top four – and it is understood they are not done yet.
However, Arsenal legend has left the club – 30-year-old English midfielder Jordan Nobbs – this caused bigger waves. She joined Aston Villa after 12-and-a-half years in north London to boost their World Cup hopes, with the sport’s biggest global tournament turbo-charging the transfer window in the women’s game. All over the world, players are looking to ensure they get the regular game time they will need to earn places in squads for the tournament Down Under, and this window represents their last chance. The World Cup starts on July 20.
Another factor is the increased number of clubs that are really trying to be competitive rather than simply participating, which has been quite the fault of the countless clubs over the years who have simply fielded a women’s team to tick a box.
Aston Villa are one example of a club trying to move up the ladder and – like Nobbs – they have caught the eye with the addition of another England midfielder signing Manchester United’s Lucy Staniforth.
Tottenham Hotspur, previously one of many perennial underspenders in the women’s game, broke their own club transfer record with the signing – and effectively broke the record for the highest transfer fee exchanged between two WSL clubs. Lionesses forward Bethany England from Chelsea for a fee said to be just under £250,000 including allowances. The move, which will also boost the 28-year-old’s chances of making Sarina Wiegman’s World Cup squad, was the third most expensive in the history of the sport, behind Pernilla Harder’s move from Wolfsburg to Chelsea and Keira Walsh’s world-record switch to Barcelona .
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