Canada’s Olivia Smith becomes world’s highest paid women’s soccer player
Global News
Canadian soccer star Olivia Smith has signed the most expensive contract in Women's soccer history after agreeing to a multi-year deal with England's Arsenal F.C.
Canada forward Olivia Smith became the most expensive player in women’s soccer history at a reported one million pounds (US$1.34 million) when Arsenal signed her from Liverpool on Thursday.
The new benchmark in women’s soccer would surpass the 900,000 pounds ($1.1 million) Chelsea paid when signing Naomi Girma from the San Diego Wave in January.
Smith’s four-year deal highlights the increase in spending in women’s soccer, with transfer records regularly broken.
Zambia striker Rachael Kundananji joined Bay FC from Madrid CFF for a record $788,000 last year, and that figure was quickly exceeded by Girma’s move to Chelsea.
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.
The 20-year-old from Whitby, Ont., has rapidly risen since developing in the United States college system.
Smith joined Sporting Clube in Portugal in 2023 and scored 16 goals in 28 appearances in her debut season.
Juan Orlando Hernández was sentenced to 45 years in prison for taking bribes from drug traffickers so they could safely move some 400 tons of cocaine through Honduras to the U.S.
Costco has sued the U.S. government to ensure it will receive refunds if the Supreme Court rejects President Donald Trump's bid for sweeping authority to impose tariffs.
Footage of the incident, shared on social media, shows the man shimmying down a tree into the lion enclosure.
Initial tests showed it was up to code, but investigators later found seven failed safety standards, which officials said suggested contractors skimped to make greater profits.
The 2025 news cycle was 'dominated by social unrest, debates about the regulation of online content, and concerns over digital wellbeing,' OUP said while announcing the decision.
Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of recent U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs.
Hundreds more are missing following flooding and landslides in the past week, which killed at least 604 people in Indonesia, 366 in Sri Lanka and 176 in Thailand, authorities said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials held talks with a Ukrainian delegation to further hash out the details of a proposed peace framework.