Kelly, Walsh and Girma: The women’s players that could be on the move in January

The January transfer window in the women’s game has many of the same complications that the corresponding window offers in the men’s one.

Sides are often unwilling to let players go when they might not have the opportunity to replace them, while the proliferation of short-term contracts for women’s players mean that teams can be inclined to wait until any targets become free agents in the summer.

However, with leagues in countries such as Sweden and the U.S. running on a summer schedule so that this window falls within their off-season, there are market opportunities for buying and selling clubs.

Last year, the women’s transfer record was broken on three separate occasions by Chelsea, Orlando Pride and Bay FC as they bought Mayra Ramirez, Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji respectively.

Here are some of the players who we might see on the move this January.

Chloe Kelly, Manchester City

Out of contract in the summer, Chloe Kelly has found herself falling further and further down the pecking order at Manchester City.

She lost her starting place in the side towards the end of last season and has failed to make her way back into the team even as injuries to key players like Lauren Hemp and Bunny Shaw have impacted Gareth Taylor’s side. Taylor has shown his preference is clearly for options like Mary Fowler and Aoba Fujino.

At 26 years old, Kelly should be an attractive prospect for teams, given both her footballing experience and commercial appeal that comes from scoring England’s European Championship-winning goal.

There is no doubt that her form has declined in recent months but a winger who has a combined 67 goals and assists in 120 WSL appearances, and is coming into her peak years, certainly has the potential to be revitalised in a new environment. The question will be whether City are willing to sell given their injury crisis and if potential buyers feel the need to spend now given they could have her for free by July.

Jule Brand, Wolfsburg

Another winger who is out of contract in the summer is Jule Brand. The 22-year-old was the first winner of the Golden Girl Award in 2022 but there is a sense that she has not quite fulfilled her potential at Wolfsburg, who she joined from Hoffenheim three seasons ago.

A €450,000 release clause in her contract was allowed to expire last year, with her agent confirming to Kicker that she would see out her contract.

Brand has found herself in and out of the Wolfsburg team at points, but she has started 11 out of 16 matches this season and is on course to play her most minutes ever in a year. Wolfsburg have previously been willing to sell in the past but with Brand looking like a relied-upon part of the squad right now, this might be a move that happens in the summer.

Jule Brand has won two German Cups with Wolfsburg (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir, Wolfsburg

Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir is in a very similar position to Brand. The 23-year-old Iceland winger has played even less and her Wolfsburg contract also expires in the summer.

Her recent display off the bench against Roma in the Champions League gave a tantalising taste of what she can do as she scored four goals in the space of 25 minutes.

A lack of consistent minutes has limited the her overall numbers but her non-penalty expected goals and expected assists per 90 of 0.75 is better than Kelly or Brand’s. Add in the attraction of her trebuchet-like long throw and it would be easy to see why a team might be willing to spend to bring Jonsdottir in.

Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir is an Iceland international (Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Keira Walsh, Barcelona

It looked like Keira Walsh might have had the opportunity to break the world record transfer fee twice in her career when Arsenal were interested in signing her from Barcelona in the summer.

She had previously broken it when she moved to the Catalan club in the summer of 2022 from Manchester City for £375,000 and Arsenal’s summer bid of £930,000 reported by La Transmissió de la Gelma, would have broken it again.

However, Barcelona chose to turn that offer down and keep hold of Walsh, who continues to be an integral part of their midfield.

It remains to be seen if Arsenal will go back in for Walsh in January or if Barcelona’s resolve could be broken this time around. Given Arsenal’s qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals, the decision to sell to a potential competition rival seems unlikely. But equally Barcelona have spent significantly in recent years and might wish to recoup some of Walsh’s transfer fee.

Keira Walsh has won two Champions Leagues with Barcelona (Christian Bruna/Getty Images)

Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave

Unlike the rest of these players, Naomi Girma plays for a side who are in their off-season at the moment.

Under contract until 2026, Girma would not be easy or cheap to pry away from the San Diego Wave but given her reputation as one of the world’s best centre-backs, a couple of sides might well be inclined to try.

The Wave have gone through a period of upheaval after a poor 2024 season in which they sacked inaugural manager Casey Stoney and are currently managerless. The club’s president Jill Ellis also recently left to join FIFA under a cloud of controversy having been alleged by a former employee as engaging in a “pattern of abusive behaviour”.

Naomi Girma was selected by the San Diego Wave with the first pick of the 2022 NWSL Draft (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

The balance of power between European leagues and the NWSL also makes any potential move intriguing. After a run of years where some of the best NWSL players came to Europe, the opposite has happened more recently, with the competitiveness and salary size making the U.S. an attractive place to play.

Girma making a move to Europe would be a significant coup as a result.

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(Top photos: Keira Walsh, left, and Chloe Kelly; Getty Images)