February 13, 2024, 17:21 GMT
Updated 7 minutes ago
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Racheal Kundananji scored 33 goals in 43 Liga F games for Madrid CFF
Zambia's Racheal Kundananji has become the most expensive female footballer of all time after joining Bay FC from Madrid CFF for $860,000 (£685,000).
The striker, who scored 33 goals in 43 League F games for Madrid, has agreed a four-year contract with the American club with the option of a further year.
Bay FC will make its debut in the National Women's Soccer League this year.
Kundananji, 23, is the first African player, male or female, to break a world transfer record.
However, that transfer fee will now be a distant second after Kundananji was brought from Spain to San Jose, where Bay FC will play its home games.
“The people of Zambia will be surprised but they will be so happy,” Kundananji told ` Sport Africa.
“I want to give this [Bay FC] Fans what they want: to enjoy the games, watch me play and score.
Bay FC will pay an initial $785,000 for Kundananji, with an additional $75,000 as a surcharge.
Kundananji began her career with Zambian club Indeni Roses before moving to BIIK Kazygurt in Kazakhstan in 2019, where she played in the Women's Champions League for the first time.
Two years later she moved to Spanish first division club Eibar and eight league goals in her only season with the Basque club earned the speedy striker a move to Madrid.
She scored 25 goals in 29 league games to help Madrid CFF to a fifth-place finish last season, their best in their history, and has scored a further eight goals in 14 league games this season.
Kundananji also played in the 2023 Women's World Cup – and scored one goal – and has scored 10 goals in 18 games for Zambia.
The latest big money move adds to record spending in women's football. World football governing body Fifa reported that transfer fees totaled $2.1 million in January, a 165.5% increase compared to January 2023.
This is despite the fact that the number of international transfers only increased by 0.3% compared to the previous year.
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