Racheal Kundananji, a Zambian player, just become the most expensive female footballer in the history of the sport after she made the move from Madrid CFF to Bay FC for a transfer fee of $860,000 (£685,000).
Real Madrid’s attacker, who scored 33 goals in 43 Liga F appearances for Real Madrid, has been signed to a four-year contract with an additional year at-large by the American team. For the first time ever, Bay FC will be competing in the National Women’s Soccer League after this year.
He is the first African player, male or female, to break a world transfer record at the age of 23, and Kundananji is the first player of African descent to do so.
Keira Walsh, a midfielder for England, was the most expensive female athlete prior to her transfer from Manchester City to Barcelona in 2022, which cost her a total of £400,000.
This number could be surpassed by the initial payment of £384,000 that Chelsea made to Levante in order to acquire Colombian forward Mayra Ramirez; additional payments could potentially increase the total to £426,600. Nevertheless, the cost of transporting Kundananji from Spain to San Jose, which is the location of Bay FC’s home games, will be a little inconvenient in comparison to the historic arrangement that was reached.
Kundananji told sources that the Zambian people will be both astonished and ecstatic. He wants to provide [Bay FC] supporters with what they desire that is the opportunity to watch him score and appreciate the games. In addition to the initial $785,000, Bay FC will pay an additional $75,000 in add-ons for Kundananji.
Kundananji began her professional career with the Zambian team Indeni Roses. In 2019, she moved to BIIK Kazygurt in Kazakhstan, where she made her debut in the Women’s Champions League.
In the following two years, she joined the Spanish top-flight team Eibar. In her one and only season with the Basque club, she scored eight goals in the league, which resulted in the transfer to Madrid for the speedy forward.
Last year, she helped Madrid CFF to their best ever fifth-place finish in the league by scoring 25 goals in 29 league games. This season, she has added eight more goals in 14 league matches, making her goal total for this season the most in the club’s history. In addition, Kundananji participated in the Women’s World Cup in 2023, where she scored a goal, and she has scored ten goals for Zambia in 18 matches.
165.5% more money was spent on transfer fees in January than in January 2023, according to the world governing organisation Fifa, which reported that transfer costs totaled $2.1 million in January. This latest high-profile deal adds to the record spending in the women’s game.
This is in spite of the fact that the number of international transfers has increased by only 0.3% compared to the previous year. Kundananji has joined Asisat Oshoala, a striker from Nigeria, and Jen Beattie, a former defender for Arsenal when joining Ba.
