{"id":14273,"date":"2025-07-17T05:17:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/17\/arsenal-shatters-records-with-groundbreaking-transfer-of-olivia-smith\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T05:17:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:17:22","slug":"arsenal-shatters-records-with-groundbreaking-transfer-of-olivia-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/07\/17\/arsenal-shatters-records-with-groundbreaking-transfer-of-olivia-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal Shatters Records with Groundbreaking Transfer of Olivia Smith!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li class=\"mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\">\n                    <img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/i\/columnists\/espn_generic_m.jpg&amp;h=80&amp;w=80&amp;scale=crop\" alt=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\">\n                <\/div>\n<p>Emily Kage<span class=\"timestamp \">July 17, 2025, 05:00 at<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\">close<\/p>\n<ul>Emily Keow, based in London, serves as ESPN&#8217;s correspondent for women&#8217;s soccer, focusing on the WSL and UWCL.<\/ul>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Arsenal has announced the acquisition of Canadian international Olivia Smith on a long-term deal, reportedly for a record-breaking fee that marks the first \u00a31 million transfer in women\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN sources indicate that the 20-year-old&#8217;s transfer to last season&#8217;s Champions League champions surpasses Liverpool&#8217;s world record expectations, exceeding the prior record of over $1.1 million (\u00a3820K) set by Naomi Gilma&#8217;s transfer from Chelsea.<\/p>\n<p>While Liverpool was initially resistant to the idea of parting ways with Smith, their demands were ultimately met when Arsenal matched their asking price, amid offers from both Chelsea and Orlyonne that were turned down.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Signing with Arsenal is a tremendous honor,&#8221; Smith expressed to the club&#8217;s media team. \u201cMy dream is to compete for major titles in the UK and Europe, and I am thrilled to join Arsenal in that pursuit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe atmosphere at Emirates Stadium is phenomenal, and I can&#8217;t wait to experience that energy from the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure>\n            <picture><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0717%2Fr1520153_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=570&amp;format=jpg, https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0717%2Fr1520153_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=1140&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0717%2Fr1520153_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=375, https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0717%2Fr1520153_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=750&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"><br \/>\n                <\/source><br \/>\n                <\/source>\n            <\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Olivia Smith has joined Arsenal on a long-term contract. <cite>David Price\/Arsenal FC Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Smith joined Liverpool at the start of last season and quickly established herself as the club&#8217;s top goalscorer, netting nine goals in 25 matches across all competitions. She was also named the club&#8217;s Player of the Season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<strong> Arsenal women finalize the signing of Liverpool&#8217;s Taylor Hins<br \/>&#8211; Summer Transfer Window: Major Signings in Women&#8217;s Soccer<br \/>&#8211; Women&#8217;s Euro 2025 schedule and results<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Arsenal manager Rene Sleggers commented, \u201cOlivia is a talented young player, and I believe she will greatly contribute to our team. Her mentality and personality have impressed us, and her achievements in two European leagues at such a young age speak volumes.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\">\n<h2 class=\"img-title\">Disney+ will serve as the new home for the European Women&#8217;s Champions League<\/h2>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" data-lazyload=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/photo\/2025\/0524\/r1497653_1296x729_16-9.jpg\" class=\"round lazyload\"><\/p>\n<p>Fans can watch all 75 live games each season exclusively on Disney+. Visit the Disney+ website for more details.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Prior to her time with Liverpool, Smith played a season in Portugal with Sporting CP, scoring 16 goals in 28 appearances during her debut campaign before transitioning to the Women\u2019s Super League.<\/p>\n<p>On the international stage, Smith became the youngest player to represent Canada when she debuted in 2019 at 15 years old. To date, she has made 18 appearances and scored four goals for her national team.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal is eager to leverage their Champions League success to strengthen their squad, following Sleggers&#8217; inaugural season. Reports suggest that the club is focused on attracting younger talent to refresh its roster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Fan Take:<\/strong> This signing not only sets a groundbreaking financial precedent in women&#8217;s soccer but also underscores the rapid growth and increasing competitiveness of the sport. For fans, it highlights the shift toward a more professional and celebrated women\u2019s soccer landscape, raising expectations for future talent and championship aspirations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Emily KageJuly 17, 2025, 05:00 at close Emily Keow, based in London, serves as ESPN&#8217;s correspondent for women&#8217;s soccer, focusing on the WSL and UWCL. Arsenal has announced the acquisition of Canadian international Olivia Smith on a long-term deal, reportedly for a record-breaking fee that marks the first \u00a31 million transfer in women\u2019s soccer. ESPN [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[44,40,2023,46,4326,3129,3825,4327,45,138],"class_list":{"0":"post-14273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-groundbreaking","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-olivia","13":"tag-records","14":"tag-shatters","15":"tag-smith","16":"tag-soccer","17":"tag-transfer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}