Arsenal pays world record women’s soccer transfer fee to sign Olivia Smith from Liverpool

Olivia Smith became the most expensive player in women's soccer history Thursday when she joined Arsenal from Liverpool for a world record transfer fee of 1 million pounds ($1.34 million).

The new benchmark in women’s soccer surpasses the 900,000 pounds ($1.1 million) Chelsea paid for Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave in January.

“She’s one of the most talented young players in the game and has huge potential for further development here at the club,” Arsenal director of women’s football Clare Wheatley said.

The 20-year-old Canada forward signed a four-year deal, a person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press. The person, who also confirmed the record fee, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the full details of the transfer have not been made public.

Smith's deal highlights the rapid increase in spending in women's soccer with transfer records regularly broken in recent years.

Zambia striker Racheal Kundananji set a new record when joining Bay FC from Madrid CFF for $788,000 last year, and that figure was quickly exceeded by Girma's move to Chelsea, becoming the first $1 million women's soccer player.

As recently as 2020, the most expensive women’s player was Denmark’s Pernille Harder, who joined Chelsea from Wolfsburg for $355,000.

England’s Keira Walsh left Manchester City for Barcelona in 2022 for a deal worth $513,000, and Chelsea broke the record again in 2024 when signing Mayra Ramirez from Levante for $542,000.

But those figures are still a long way behind the men's game where Neymar remains the record signing following his 2017 move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for $262 million.

Kylian Mbappe joined PSG for $216 million and is the second most expensive player of all time.

After one season at Penn State, Smith joined Sporting Lisbon in 2023 and scored 16 goals in 28 appearances. She moved to Liverpool last year and scored nine times in 25 games.

Smith is also Canada's youngest international after making her debut at 15 in 2019.

“Olivia is an exciting young player and we believe she can make a big contribution here at Arsenal," head coach Renee Slegers said. “We’ve been impressed by her mentality and character, excelling in two European leagues at such a young age.”

Arsenal is a 15-time English champion and won the Champions League for the second time in its history last season.

Despite Chelsea being the dominant force in women's soccer in England, Arsenal is the only English team to win the Champions League.

“It’s my dream to compete for the biggest titles here in England and in Europe and I’m excited to get started and contribute to doing that here with Arsenal," Smith said.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Canada's Olivia Smith tries a shot during the international women's friendly soccer match between Canada and South Korea at the Pinatar Arena Football Center in Murcia, Spain, on Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Macia Martinez, File)

PARIS (AP) — A Paris court is to rule on Monday in a case involving 10 people accused of cyberbullying French first lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, allegations her daughter said damaged her health and family life.

The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 60, are accused of posting “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron ’s wife was born a man and linking the 24-year age gap with her husband to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.

Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October.

Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she described as the “deterioration” of her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren.

Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, who is known as Amandine Roy and describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered as having played a major role in spreading the rumor after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.

The X account of Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, was suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations.

Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humor or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted. They face up to two years in prison if convicted.

The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.

The Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.

Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been France’s president since 2017.

FILE - French President's wife Brigitte Macron arrives ahead of the ceremony outside "La Belle Equipe" bar, Thursday Nov. 13, 2025 in Paris as part of ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of terrorist attacks. (Ludovic Marin, Pool photo via AP, File)