SOCCER
How much did Barcelona pay Man City for England’s Keira Walsh?
After eight seasons with Manchester City, Euro 2022 winner Walsh, 25, has moved to Spanish champions Barcelona for a bumper fee.
Keira Walsh has joined Barcelona for what appears to be a world-record fee for a women’s soccer player, although there is disagreement in the media over the amount the Spanish champions have paid for the England midfielder.
Walsh’s switch from Manchester City was confirmed on Wednesday, Barça revealing that the 25-year-old has agreed a contract running until June 2025.
$460,000, $400,000, less than that?
Although neither Barça nor City disclosed any financial figures in their announcements of the deal, it has been reported in the UK media that the Blaugrana are to pay as much as £400,000 ($460,000) for the player.
Such a fee would outstrip the women’s game’s previous transfer record, which was set when Denmark’s Pernille Harder left VfL Wolfsburg for Chelsea in September 2020. The amount involved in the Harder deal is also unconfirmed, but it is reportedly in the region of £250,000 ($287,000) to £300,000 ($345,000).
Catalan media outlets are placing Walsh’s transfer fee lower than their British counterparts, however. Sport reports that the deal is believed to be worth around €400,000 ($400,000), while Mundo Deportivo’s Ángel Pérez says Barça have told his newspaper that it’s even less that that.
Indeed, the club “didn’t specify whether or not the figure exceeds” what Chelsea forked out for Harder two years ago, Pérez said on Wednesday.
Walsh follows England colleague Bronze to Barcelona
Walsh moves to Barça after eight years at City, where she won the Women’s Super League in 2016, as well as three Women’s FA Cups and four Women’s League Cups.
Capped 50 times by England, Walsh starred in the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 triumph in July, starting every game of the tournament and earning the Player of the Match award as Sarina Wiegman’s team beat Germany in the final at Wembley.
She is the second England star to swap City for Barça this summer, after free agent Lucy Bronze penned a two-year contract with the Catalan giants in June.
Walsh made 211 appearances for City, scoring nine goals.
Barça, who won a third consecutive Spanish league and cup double in 2021/22, kick off their domestic campaign against Levante Las Planas on Sunday.