Barcelona break women’s transfer record to sign England star Keira Walsh from Manchester City

Barcelona will pay around £400,000 for Walsh, breaking the previous record set by Chelsea’s signing of Pernille Harder

(The FA via Getty Images)

Barcelona have signed England international Keira Walsh from Manchester City on a three-year deal that will see the Euro 2022 winning midfielder become the world’s most expensive female footballer.

Barcelona and Manchester City reportedly agreed a world-record fee of around £400,000 for the 25-year-old, who was player of the match in England’s Euro 2022 final victory over Germany in July. It breaks the previous record set by Chelsea’s signing of forward Pernille Harder in 2019.

Walsh had one year remaining on her contract at City, the club she had been with since 2014, but wanted to seal the move ahead of Wednesday’s transfer deadline in Spain. The midfielder joins England team-mate Lucy Bronze in also making the switch to Barcelona this summer.

City were reluctant to lose Walsh and the move is a further blow to the club ahead of the start of the Women’s Super League season this weekend, as well as the league as a whole. City have also seen Georgia Stanway and Caroline Weir leave the club this summer while Ellen White and Jill Scott have retired.

The move guarantees Champions League football for Walsh after City were knocked out in the qualification stages by Real Madrid last month. The England midfielder also joins a dominant Barcelona side who won the Spanish title by winning all of their games last season and reached the Champions League final a year on from winning the competition.

Barcelona shattered the attendance record for a women’s club match last season, with over 90,000 fans witnessing their Champions League victory over Real Madrid at the Nou Camp.

Walsh will become team-mates with several of European football’s top players, including the Spain international and Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, who is currently out with an ACL injury.