Chelsea confirmed the signing of United States women’s national team defender Naomi Girma for a record fee in a long-term deal with the San Diego Wave.
The $1.1 million deal makes Girma the first player to cross the $1 million mark in women’s soccer.
ESPN revealed on 16 January that Chelsea were the leading suitors to sign Girma, with initial interest from Lyon and Arsenal, before confirming that the west London club had won the race for the player’s signature 24 years old. It is understood Arsenal were not among the final candidates.
The fee exceeds the previous record contract of $767,600, paid by Bay FC of the NWSL to sign Zambian striker Racheal Kundananji from Madrid CFF in February 2024.
Girma was unveiled on the pitch at Stamford Bridge ahead of Chelsea’s Women’s Super League (WSL) victory against Arsenal on Sunday.
“I’m so happy and really excited to be here. It doesn’t seem real,” Girma said in a statement.
“There are a lot of things at Chelsea that made me want to come here: the culture, the winning mentality, the staff and the players. It’s a great environment to learn and grow. Right now, it’s is what I’m looking to do. It was an easy choice for me.”
Girma was instrumental in helping the USWNT win gold at the Paris Olympics last summer.
Former Chelsea manager and head USWNT coach Emma Hayes said Girma was “the best defender I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a player as good as her at back”.
Girma was under contract with the San Diego Wave of the NWSL until 2026. She has 44 caps and scored twice for her country after her debut in 2022. In 2023, she was named the United States Player of the Year. United.
The center back thanked San Diego, who selected her as the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft.
“San Diego Wave was a very important part of my journey,” Girma said in a statement. “I will always be grateful for the opportunities I had growing up here and for the incredible relationships I formed with my teammates, the athletic staff and our incredible fans. I am especially grateful to the owners and Cami for their support .my dream of playing in Europe will always hold a special place in my heart and I wish the team nothing but the best for the future.
San Diego general manager Camille Ashton told ESPN that Girma had made his preference clear to join Chelsea and that the NWSL club would also benefit from the defender’s move.
“Chelsea is where she wants to be,” Ashton said. “We’ve also made it clear to (Chelsea) that in order to move her we have to make sure that from a business point of view and from the team side we also get what we need because she is obviously a big loss. And we were very clear that if it didn’t, we don’t know if it would be the window now, or if it would be the next window. But she (Girma) really wanted it. . move this window, and finally we were able to conclude a deal that also made a lot of sense for the club.”
Chelsea are nine points clear at the top of the WSL table.
Reporting from ESPN’s Tom Hamilton and Jeff Carlisle contributed to this report
