Transfer fees in women's football are on the rise: 'More than €1m faster than expected'

Unless you follow sports news closely, you probably haven't heard of Rachel Kundanangi before this week.

The Zambian striker can call himself the most expensive footballer of all time, after US club Bay FC transferred €735,000 to Madrid CFF's bank account earlier this week.

Thus, he broke the transfer record set by Chelsea just 3 weeks ago, which then paid 500,000 euros for Colombian Mayra Ramirez. Nearly 47 percent increase in just a few weeks: Transfer fees in women's football have suddenly risen.

“I've always said it's never been more than a million, but I have to reconsider that,” says Dutch football agent Leonie Plokhes, laughing. “We will definitely pass the 1 million mark and I think it will happen faster than any of us expect.”

According to Blokhus, it is no coincidence that an American club has tightened its transfer record for women. “The United States is the country that has been involved in women's soccer the longest and most professionally.”

For many years, footballers would move between two clubs for free. This has changed dramatically in recent years due to longer contracts. And so the transportation charges also follow.

“In the past, they were all called 'free agents'. The contracts were short-term and there was less money. That's changing, because contracts are now up to 3, 4 or 5 years and I think that's 'good.' This way, players can focus more on developing themselves,” says Blokhus.

This is increasingly happening not only in top foreign clubs, but also in Belgium or the Netherlands. “You now regularly see two- to three-year contracts in the Netherlands.”

“These contracts also usually have clauses that someone can leave if they are ready for a new challenge or if the Dream Club comes along. I think you shouldn't stand in the way of that. We're still too young for that.”

The fact that transfer fees are actually paid in Belgium or the Netherlands is still somewhat exceptional at the moment. “But I'm not saying we're backward either,” he said.

“It's just a different stage of development. 90 percent of transfers around the world are still uncompensated, but this will also change in the coming years. Of course, we are not talking about sums like Kundanange.”

So the final message from Dutch agent Angela Verdos is: invest in women's football. “Because it will grow faster and faster. As a professional club, you can really benefit from that if you invest now.”