The Women’s Super League’s summer transfer window has closed before the start of the 2026-27 season. The finances involved are microscopic compared with the £3.4bn that Premier League clubs spent on new players but the data provides three key points of interest: which club has made the biggest improvement to their squad, who is banking on stability, and how the women’s game has outsmarted its male equivalent. Many transfers in women’s football occur without the fee being disclosed, which deprives us of the conventional shorthand for assessing player quality.
Thankfully there is Soccerdonna, the arm of Transfermarkt that covers women’s football. It carries estimated market values of players in euros. Using these, we can see by how much clubs have improved their squads.
Arsenal’s new additions have a combined value of €3.9m, slightly more than the €3.5m of talent that London City Lionesses have gained this summer. The entire squads of eight of the 14 teams in the 2026-27 WSL are worth less than these figures, which highlights the impact the new players should have. Indeed, London City’s new two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas is valued at €1.15m, which is more than the entire Charlton squad and not far behind the roster at Crystal Palace.
West Ham could argue they have added the most to their squad as the combined market value of their new players (€1.02m) is more than the corresponding amount for the players who remain from last season (€0.96m). Having finished 10th after winning only three of their opening 19 matches, improvements were clearly required. While supporters are most excited by new signings, departees are just as relevant to the health of a squad.
Or at least they are if they made significant contributions in the previous season. West Ham had to make additions as they lost players that contributed 6,322 minutes in the 2025-26 WSL, 29% of their total. Chief among those leaving was the goalkeeper Kinga Szemik, who started 19 of 22 games.
Only Martina Fernández (1,950 minutes for Everton) and Keira Flannery (1,891 at Charlton) left current WSL clubs and played more minutes last season. Teams may have learned from 12 months ago. Brighton lost 9,584 minutes of playing time from their 2024-25 squad in the summer 2025 window and went on to finish two places lower last season.
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