Chelsea are at it again, spending huge sums in the transfer market, just as they have many times before. But we are not talking about the men’s team here and Todd Boehly’s seemingly scattergun transfer policy (which now looks a little bit less odd and in real danger of actually paying dividends). No, instead we are talking about Chelsea’s all-conquering women’s team.
On the 26th of January, the club announced that they had signed USA international, Naomi Girma, who will turn 25 in June, for a world-record transfer fee. Women’s football has been waiting a long time for its first £1m player. We aren’t quite there yet but it does have its first $1m footballer, with the fee the Blues paid San Diego Wave around $1.1m.
That is by some distance the most money ever paid for a female player, eclipsing – and then some – the £685,000 that San Francisco outfit Bay FC paid Madrid in early 2024 for the Zambian attacker, Racheal Kundananji. It is in a whole different ballpark to the record in the men’s game, which is somewhere around the £200m mark thanks to Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain back in 2017.
The first man to be sold for over £1m was Italian Giuseppe Savoldi, who moved from Bologna to Napoli for around £1.2m in 1975. Thanks to the huge growth in the women’s game, especially in the UK, where it is booming, and the commensurate growth in finances, it is surely only a matter of time before we see a woman signed for a seven-figure sum. Who that will be and when it will come is impossible to know but we strongly suspect we will see more transfers close to, or over, that magical figure in the next 12 months.
Chelsea Continue to Be Big Spenders
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The signing of Girma is the third time that Chelsea, the clear queens of English football in the 21st century, have broken the transfer world record since 2020. That year they signed Pernille Harder, the Danish star, from Wolfsburg, for £250,000. That created a new benchmark in the women’s game, breaking the very old transfer record of £200,000 that had stood since 2002.
In January of 2024, they once again broke the transfer record – which had previously stood at the £400,000 Barca paid Man City for Keira Walsh – by signing Colombian striker Mayra Ramirez for a fee that would reach £426,000 with add-ons. Ramirez has not proved an unqualified hit in west London but she has settled in reasonably well and is scoring at a rate of around one goal every three games. At 25 years of age, Chelsea will be hoping her best days are just ahead of her and will expect her productivity to increase in the seasons to come.
And then, of course, Chelsea’s third world-record signing is Girma. Let’s take a closer look at what Blues fans can expect from the American.
Naomi Girma Profile
Before we examine her history, style and future, let’s take a look at some basic facts. Note information is correct as of the 29th of January, 2025.
- Name – Naomi Haile Girma
- Born – San Jose, California, 14 June 2000
- Position – Centre Back
- International Career – 44 caps and two goals for USA
What Are Chelsea Getting?
👕 Naomi Girma has 44 caps for the #USWNT pic.twitter.com/fEcNy9DsrY
— Chelsea women (@CFC__Women) January 28, 2025
The Blues have splashed out a record fee for a player that a certain Emma Hayes – her coach on the international stage – called “the best defender I’ve ever seen”. Hayes has worked with some incredible players over her time at Chelsea and now, of course, as boss of the USWNT (United States Women’s National Team), so that is quite the compliment.
Girma is right-footed but comfortable with her left and typically plays on the left side of defence. However, it seems likely that the Blues will deploy her on the right, with club captain and England star Millie Bright on the left. Girma has spoken of how excited she is to play alongside Bright and the two should form an incredible partnership.
Both are natural leaders but they will be able to learn from each other, with Girma sure to gain a lot from the experience and know-how of the older player. But the pair should complement each other nicely too, with Bright bringing a more physical presence – she is four inches taller than the American – and Girma offering bags of pace.
The former San Diego Wave ace has exceptional football intelligence and reads the game superbly. Having played in midfield in her youth she is also very comfortable on the ball, both bringing it out from the back and also in terms of her passing ability. She is technically excellent and her partnership with Bright should make Chelsea even tighter at the back.
The Blues are bidding for a sixth WSP title in a row this term and at the time of writing have won 11 and drawn one of their 12 games. Adding probably the best defender in the world into the mix is a scary prospect for the rest of the Women’s Super League. However, we believe that Girma was signed with the Champions League in mind and with her and Bright together at the back, Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor will feel she has a defence capable of going all the way.
Girma’s Background
Girma was born into a sporty family of Ethiopian descent and played basketball, like her brother, as a child. She also did gymnastics but it became clear that she was a talented footballer when she played as a child in the Ethiopian-community team her father helped create. By the age of 13 she was known to the USWNT set-up and went to an U14 camp with the national team. She played soccer at college, Stanford no less, and was ranked the fifth-best college prospect in 2018.
A first-round draft pick for San Diego Wave in the club’s first year of existence, she helped her new side finish third in the regular season, but they would eventually lose in the semis. She won various individual awards though and was nominated for the Most Valuable Player Award too.
She went on to win various awards and trophies with San Diego whilst rapidly rising through the international ranks. She played for the US at various age-group levels before forcing her way into the senior team in October 2022. The following year she became the first defender ever to win the US Soccer 2023 Female Player of the Year and in 2024 she helped her national side take gold at the Paris Olympics, under coach Hayes. Chelsea have got quite the player!