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UEFA Women's Champions League winners Arsenal are set to break all the past transfer fee records for 20-year-old Canadian forward from Liverpool, Olivia Smith. Smith is now on the verge of becoming the world's first women's player to break the £1m transfer fee record.
If the deal gets completed, Olivia Smith will break the record for the most expensive transfer fee in women's football history, beating the record of Naomi Girma, who was bought by Chelsea FC Women for £900,000.
Who is Olivia Smith?
Olivia Smith is a 20-year-old centre forward from Canada, born on August 5, 2004. Olivia started her football career in Ontario, Canada, playing youth soccer before joining college football in the United States at Penn State University.
Club career so far
To pursue her career in football, Smith left college early and joined Sporting CP in Portugal in 2023, where she played the first professional season of her career. After a sensational season with Sporting, where she netted 13 goals and produced nine assists in 18 league games.
Smith went on to win the Best Young Player and Revelation Player as Sporting finished second in the league, behind Benfica.
Her extraordinary skill as a teenager caught the eyes of Liverpool, and she was signed by the Reds in July 2024. In her first season in the Women's Super League, Smith scored 7 goals in 20 appearances. In the whole season for the Reds, she scored 9 times and provided an assist in 25 games.
Smith was even nominated for the WSL Player of the Year 2025 award. She was named the LFC Women's Player of the Season 2024/25.
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International career
Smith debuted for Canada at just 15 years and 94 days old, becoming her country's youngest player ever in 2019. She also played in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.
Till now, she has appeared 18 times for Canada, scoring 3 goals.
Why are Arsenal willing to pay the most expensive transfer fee for Olivia Smith?
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Well, the truth is that Olivia Smith might find it hard to find a place in the playing XI for Arsenal FC Women. The UEFA Women's Champions League winners have Mariona Caldentey, Beth Mead, Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly in the team, and this will make it very hard for Olivia to start in every game.
So, why are they willing to pay such a high amount for her?
Just like all the men's football teams in the world are thinking, the women's teams are also thinking the same. With Olivia Smith, Arsenal are thinking long-term goals, and that is why they are willing to pay big bucks for the Canadian.
"I don't necessarily know how easily she walks into that Arsenal team, obviously they won the Champions League last season, which makes them extremely lucrative, but they've got a great attacking threat already," Rachel Corsie, former Scotland captain, told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"It will be a challenge for her, but probably an addition for Arsenal that they'll expect is maybe one of those signings who could be at the club for a number of years," she added.
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Most expensive transfers in women's football history
| Player | Position | Signed for | Transfer fee |
| Naomi Girma | CB | Chelsea Women | £900,000 |
| Racheal Kundananji | FW | Bay FC | €685000 |
| Barbra Banda | FW | Orlando Pride | €581000 |
| Mayra Ramirez | FW | Chelsea Women | €426000 |
| Keira Walsh | MF | Barcelona Femeni | €400000 |
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OHHHH MYYYY WORRRRLLLDDD!
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