Chelsea agree deal to sign Lionesses star Keira Walsh from Barcelona

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Evening Standard

·30 January 2025

Chelsea agree deal to sign Lionesses star Keira Walsh from Barcelona

Midfielder set to return to WSL after two years in Spain

Chelsea have agreed a deadline-day deal to sign England star Keira Walsh from Barcelona.

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Walsh signed for the Spanish giants in 2022 for what was then a world-record fee, having just played a major part in the Lionesses’s European Championship triumph on home soil.

The midfielder has since won back-to-back Champions League and Spanish league titles but is due to be out of contract in the summer.

Walsh was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal last summer, but is now set to secure a return to the WSL with Chelsea ahead of Thursday’s 11pm deadline.

It was initially reported that the fee would be as high as £800,000, but Standard Sport understands it is only around half that.

The deal will be Chelsea’s second major transfer of the January window, following last week’s signing of Naomi Girma for a world-record fee.

The US international defender joined from San Diego Wave for a £900,000 fee, becoming the first women’s player to be sold for more than $1million.

Girma was presented at Stamford Bridge ahead of Sunday’s vital 1-0 win over Arsenal.

The victory has Sonia Bompastor’s side seven points clear at the top of the WSL as they target a sixth straight title, but first since the summer departure of Emma Hayes.