Transfer fees in women’s football have been rising at a rate of inflation that would cause anguish at the Bank of England. Last January alone, $5.8m (£4.3m) was spent in the women’s game globally and then a record $12.3m (£9.1m) was splashed in the 2025 summer transfer window, which was nearly twice as much as 12 months earlier and a four-fold increase on 2023. What can January 2026 possibly have in store?
The upcoming winter window – which opens for English women’s clubs on 2 January and closes on 3 February – has already got off to a blockbuster start even before officially opening. The Germany striker Lea Schüller and Norway’s attacking midfielder Signe Gaupset are among those to have already signed for Women’s Super League clubs, but this is set to be a unique window for a different reason than merely the usual clamour for reinforcements.
Rarely have so many of the world’s most influential players been about to enter the final six months of their contracts. Whether it be this season’s leading WSL goalscorer Khadija Shaw, Chelsea’s Sam Kerr and Catarina Macario, or a whole host of Barcelona’s regular starters, everywhere you look this winter there are players of huge value whose futures appear uncertain. That should make for a wholly unpredictable and potentially volatile window.
Many players who starred in last summer’s European Championship final have contracts expiring at the end of June – including England’s Ella Toone, Hannah Hampton and Georgia Stanway – while the same applies for Scotland’s top foreign export, Caroline Weir at Real Madrid, and to Mary Earps at Paris Saint-Germain. And in case you have been living under a rock, Trinity Rodman’s future in the National Women’s Soccer League is in major doubt, as her contract at Washington Spirit expired on New Year’s Eve.
For Barcelona, last season’s Champions League runners-up, the state of play is intriguing. Ona Batlle, Salma Paralluelo, Mapi León, Caroline Graham Hansen and Marta Torrejón are all entering the final six months of their deals, while Alexia Putellas is also only under contract until June 2026; although in her case specifically, Barcelona have the option of a further year’s extension.
As well as Kerr, Macario and Hampton, Chelsea have big decisions to make. Guro Reiten is also in her contract’s final season at the defending English league champions, while Lucy Bronze’s, Millie Bright’s and Aggie Beever-Jones’s deals were announced as running to 2026 but with a further year’s option. Sonia Bompastor’s side spent big last summer but it would not be a surprise to see them enter the market again with more lavish deals, especially as they seek to chase down Manchester City’s six-point lead.
Arsenal have some important players entering the final six months of their contract too, not least Kim Little and Stina Blackstenius. The European champions are understood to be seeking a goalkeeper and a right-back in this window. The latter of those seems likely to be the Sweden full-back Smilla Holmberg, following strong reports in October that the north Londoners were closing in on signing the 19-year-old from Hammarby.
Manchester United have already been busy, not only with the marquee addition of Schüller from Bayern Munich on a three-and-a-half-year contract until 2029 but with the arrival of the Sweden right-back Hanna Lundkvist and news that Hinata Miyazawa has signed a new contract with Marc Skinner’s side. New additions were a necessity, though, before their attempt to compete in four different competitions in the second half of the season, for the first time as a club.
Tottenham, the WSL’s surprise package this term, have also been working hard over the winter break and on Wednesday announced the signing of the 21-year-old Sweden youth international Matilda Nildén from Häcken, in addition to their already confirmed captures of Gaupset and Hanna Wijk.
Liverpool are in urgent need of reinforcements, amid an extensive injury list that has plagued the WSL’s bottom side’s season, and they are expected to be very active in January, as are second-bottom West Ham, after the appointment of their new head coach, Rita Guarino.
However, for any bottom-half clubs hoping to persuade an out-of-favour player to leave a top team on a short-term basis in order to secure some more regular football, 2026 is not their friend. There is no World Cup in the year ahead, nor a Euros, nor an Olympics, so the desperation to secure more first-team minutes and get into a major tournament squad that has driven so many January moves in the past, such as Chloe Kelly’s headline-grabbing move to Arsenal a year ago, is unlikely to be as strong a motivating factor this term. Will enough dominoes fall? Strap yourselves in for a fascinating ride.
