London City Lionesses marked their arrival in the Women's Super League by completing the blockbuster signing of France midfielder Grace Geyoro from Paris Saint-Germain on Friday, making her one of the world's most expensive female players.
Responding to reports in the British media saying London City paid a world-record fee of 1.4 million pounds ($1.88 million), club chief executive Martin Semmens told talkSPORT radio: “It’s a big deal, it’s in and around the 1 million (pounds) mark ($1.35 million), but it’s not actually a world record, sadly.”
The biggest fee paid for a female soccer player is $1.5 million by the Orlando Pride to sign Mexico star Lizbeth Ovalle from Tigres UANL last month.
Neither London City nor PSG Féminines disclosed the exact fee for Geyoro when announcing the transfer, but coach Jocelyn Precheur acknowledged the size of the deal when asked what the 28-year-old midfielder would bring to the team.
“She is a complete player with a lot of experience,” Precheur said of Geyoro, who has made 102 appearances and scored 22 goals for France.
“It has been a long (time) talking during the summer to make this deal but I'm very satisfied, very happy, to start working with her.”
The women’s transfer record has been broken three times in 2025, starting with U.S. defender Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave to Chelsea for $1.1 million in January) and then Canada striker Olivia Smith (Liverpool to Arsenal for $1.3 million in July).
Also on Friday, Chelsea completed the signing of Alyssa Thompson from Angel City for a reported fee of around 1 million pounds ($1.35 million) in another transfer highlighting the rapid growth of the women’s game.
London City is a club founded in 2019 and owned by American businesswoman Michele Kang, who also owns Lyon — PSG's biggest rival in the French league — and the Washington Spirit in the United States. Kang, estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.2 billion, heads Kynisca Sports International, a women-led, multi-team global sports organization.
Geyoro is the 16th and biggest signing made by London City Lionesses since getting promoted at the end of last season to the WSL, where it will be the first top-flight independent women's team.
Other signings include England forward Nikita Parris, Jana Fernandez from Barcelona and Danielle van de Donk from Lyon.
“It was very important to have this kind of profile in our squad for this season,” Precheur said. "We know we are a young club, with a very short history and we want to develop this history.
“We need to build a team but when you are such a young club you need to breed a culture and all the staff and leaders of the club are working very hard to breed this culture.”
The 2025-26 WSL begins on Friday. London City visits Arsenal for its opener on Saturday.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - France's Grace Geyoro celebrates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Women's Euro 2025 quarterfinals soccer match between France and Germany at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio's capital city said Wednesday that they have gathered enough evidence to link a man charged in the double homicide of his ex-wife and her husband in their Columbus home last month to the killings.
Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said in an Associated Press interview that authorities now believe Michael David McKee, 39, a vascular surgeon who was living in Chicago, was the person seen walking down a dark alley near Monique and Spencer Tepe's home in video footage from the night of the murders. His vehicle has also been identified traveling near the house, and a firearm found in his Illinois residence also traced to evidence at the scene, she said.
An attorney representing McKee could not be identified through court listings.
His arrest Saturday capped off nearly two weeks of speculation surrounding the mysterious killings that attracted national attention. No obvious signs of forced entry were found at the Tepes’ home. Police also said no weapon was found there, and murder-suicide was not suspected. Further, nothing was stolen, and the couple’s two young children and their dog were left unharmed in the home.
“What we can tell you is that we have evidence linking the vehicle that he was driving to the crime scene. We also have evidence of him coming and going in that particular vehicle,” Bryant told the AP. “What I can also share with you is that there were multiple firearms taken from the property of McKee, and one of those firearms did match preliminarily from a NIBIN (ballistic) hit back to this actual homicide.”
Bryant said that the department wants the public to keep the tips coming. Investigators were able to follow up on every phone call, email and private tip shared from the community to the department and some of that information allowed them to gather enough evidence to make an arrest, she said.
That work culminated in the apprehension of McKee in Rockford, Illinois, where the hospital where he worked — OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center — has said it is cooperating with the investigation. He has been charged with premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths. Monique Tepe, who divorced McKee in 2017, was 39. Her husband, a dentist whose absence from work that morning prompted the first call to police, was 37.
McKee waived his right to an extradition hearing on Monday during an appearance in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County, Illinois, where he remains in jail. Bryant said officials are working out details of his return to Ohio, with no exact arrival date set. His next hearing in Winnebago County is scheduled for Jan. 23.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Wednesday that the city doesn't prioritize high-profile cases any more than others, noting that the city's closure rate on criminal cases exceeds the national average. The city also celebrated in 2025 its lowest level of homicides and violent crime since 2007, Ginther said.
“Every case matters. Ones that receive national attention, and those that don’t,” he told the AP. “Every family deserves closure and for folks to be held accountable, and the rest of the community deserves to be safe when dangerous people are taken off the street.”
Ginther said it is vital for central Ohioans to continue to grieve with the Tepes' family, which includes two young children, and loved ones, as they cope with “such an unimaginable loss.”
“I want our community to wrap our arms around this family and these children for years to come,” he said.
This undated booking photo provided by the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, shows Michael David McKee, who was charged in the killing of his ex-wife, Monique Tepe, and her husband Spencer Tepe at their Columbus, Ohio, home on Dec. 30, 2025. (Winnebago County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Spencer and Monique Tepe's home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)
This image taken from video shows Michael David McKee walking into the courtroom on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Rockford, Ill. (WIFR News/Pool Photo via AP)
