This week we again look at some major signings during the summer transfer window, after our earlier review of a few months ago.
(see: The Week in Women’s Football: CONCACAF reflection; Arsenal keep Miedema; Man City sign Venezuela star Castellanos – Tribal Football).
INTERNATIONAL PLAYER MOVES
This week, we look at more interesting club signings during the European summer transfer window, including a number of young internationals from around the world who have changed clubs.
Transfers to European Clubs
Irish Players Abroad
Looking at major moves for Northern Ireland players after this summer’s historic Women’s EURO Final team, Simone Magill has signed with Aston Villa after spending a decade at Everton. Goalkeeper Jackie Burns, who we interviewed a few years ago (in 2019) when she played in the States (see: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-northern-ireland-review-linfield-crowned-champions-uefa-championship-draw-4274182) at Carson Newman University, has moved from Hacken in Gothenburg, Sweden to Reading of the WSL in England. She signed in March of 2022 with Hacken and played in two matches before the Women’s EURO; she had signed with the Swedish club through the 2023 campaign but was released so she could move to England.
Forward Lauren Wade, who also played at Carson Newman University, and professionally in Sweden with Umea, Throttur Reykjavik in Iceland and Glasgow City in Scotland, also moved to Reading after a season at home at Glentoran.
South of the border, Amber Barrett (26) of the Republic of Ireland—who qualified for the UEFA second round playoffs for a first ever senior national team finals—moved within Germany from Cologne, where she played three seasons, to Turbine Potsdam. She was the leading scorer and MVP in 2017 at Peamount United at home, the year she gave up playing Gaelic Football as well, and won the first of her 30-plus caps at the international level.
Niamh Farrelly (23) spent a season and a half at Glasgow City in Scotland and moved in the summer to Parma of Italy, signing a two-year deal.
Diane Caldwell (33) is nearing a hundred caps and played collegiately at Hofstra University in the States, then in Iceland, Norway, Germany, and 7 games for the North Carolina Courage last season. She moved to Reading after a short stay at Manchester United late last season.
German player moves to the UK and Sweden
Dina Orschmann (24) is a German youth international who played at the University of Central Florida for two seasons, at home for FC Union Berlin and Turbine Potsdam; she moved this summer to Glasgow Rangers.
German youth international Ramona Petzelberger (29) has joined Tottenham Hotspur after two seasons at Aston Villa. She played 5 seasons at home at Bayer Leverkusen. She appeared at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan, after missing the finals two years earlier through injury.
Gina Chmielinski (22) moved from Turbine Potsdam after 6 seasons and joined FC Rosengard in Sweden. She won 20 U-19 caps for Germany.
Moves to German Clubs
Hungarian international defender Hanna Nemeth (23) played at Indiana University in the States and last season at Ferencvaros; she has moved to Werder Bremen in Germany. She played 8 games at Ferenc in the second half of the 2021-22 season.
English youth international Mollie Rouse has moved from the London City Lionesses, where she scored 3 goals in 18 games last season, to Turbine Potsdam to Germany after a year at Lewes FC in the Championship. She played in the States at the University of Louisville before transferring to the University of Central Florida. She has over 60 caps for England at various youth international levels.
Iceland international goalkeeper Cecilia Ran Runarsdottir (19) was on Everton of the WSL’s roster in 2021-22 and spent time on loan at KIF Orebro in Sweden and Bayern Munich in Germany. Bayern Munich was suitably impressed by her potential and signed her to a four-year agreement this summer. She joins two other Icelandic players at Bayern: Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir (27)—in her second season after eight seasons in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan—and midfielder Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir (21)—who is in her third season at the club after moving from Breidablik in Iceland for the 2020-21 season.
Iceland international goalkeeper Cecilia Ran Runarsdottir (in red) in action with Bayern Munich in Germany in the 2021-22 season—she has now signed a permanent contract for four years. Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Other signings by UK sides
In one of the moves of the summer, Swedish international forward Lina Hurtig (27) moved from Juventus—where she won Serie A Femminile league titles in both of her two years there—to join the Gunners at Arsenal in England. She has over 55 caps for Sweden. She played at the Women’s EURO this summer as Sweden made the semifinals before falling to the ultimate winners England (4-0). Hurtig also won a Silver Medal at the Olympics in Japan last year and played in France at the 2019 WWC.
Shanice van de Sanden (29) of the Netherlands is returning to Liverpool where she played in 2016-17 with their return to WSL1 after promotion in 2021-22, after time with Lyon in France—where she won three league titles and three UEFA WCL titles—and VfL Wolfsburg in Germany. She is approaching 100 senior caps for the Netherlands but was not on the 2022 Women’s EURO team. She won a UEFA Championship in 2017 and a Women’s World Cup runners-up medal in 2019 in France.
Chelsea signed Serbian international Jelena Cankovic (26) from Rosengard of Sweden, fending off fellow London side Arsenal, who also wanted to sign her. Cankovic signed a three-year deal.
Chelsea FC Women signed Jelena ?ankovi? from Rosengård in Sweden for the 2022-23 season.
Photo by Lukas Schulze—UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes said, “Jelena is a top talent who has been developing really, really well in Sweden. We’ve been monitoring her for some time and we’re absolutely delighted she chose us. I think her creativity in the midfield is something that will add to our team. She’s really switched on and I think she’s going to be a wonderful addition.”
?ankovi? has won league titles at home in Serbia (three with Spartak Subotica), in Sweden (two first division and one second division title), in Hungary (one with Ferencvaros) and in Spain (one with Barcelona). Hayes hopes that she can continue that winning run in England.
Cankovic said, “I am really excited to join Chelsea and it feels great to be able to play in a team with such a winning culture and great players. I am looking forward to seeing the fans and playing in front of them.”
Aïssatou Tounkara (27) a French international defender, has moved from Atletico Madrid—where she played for four seasons—to join Manchester United in England in early August. She previously played at Juvisy (now Paris FC) in France.
Viviane Asseyi (28), a French international forward with over 50 full caps, has moved from Bayern Munich, where she played two seasons, to join West Ham United.
Greece international forward Veatriki Sarri (24) has moved to Brighton & Hove Albion in mid-July 2022 from Birmingham City, where she played one season after three seasons at Sheffield United. She signed a two-year contract with her new club. She scored three goals for Birmingham last season, including the “Blues Goal of the Season” against Sunderland in the FA Cup. She said about her move, “Brighton is a club with great ambitions, I am really excited to be a part of the club.”
Greece international Veatriki Sarri has moved from Birmingham City to Brighton & Hove Albion for the 2022-23 season.
Photo by James Boardman—courtesy of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Polish international forward Nikola Karczewska (22) joined Tottenham Hotspur after a year in France at Fleury 91—where she scored 10 goals in 21 games. She signed a two-year contract with Spurs with an option for the 2025 season. Prior to moving to France, she played at Gornik Leczna in Poland and in 2019-20 helped her side win the Ekstraliga title. In the following season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League, she scored four goals in seven appearances.
Polish international forward Nikola Karczewska (22) signs a multi-year contact with Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
Photo courtesy of Tottenham Hotspur.
On the international stage, Karczewska made her senior debut for Poland against Slovakia in June, 2019. She has since added a further twelve caps and found the back of the net seven times. In April of this year, she scored six goals in one game as Poland ran out 12-0 winners against Armenia in their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier.F
Netherlands international defender Kerstin Casparij (22) moved from FC Twente at home to Manchester City in late July, after winning two league titles at home in her two years at Twente.
Norwegian international forward Elisabeth Terland (21) signed a two-year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion after playing last season with Brann of Norway, where she scored 15 goals in 32 games—10 in 14 regular season matches. She also played with Sandviken and Klepp in Norway.
Denmark’s international forward Signe Bruun (24) returned to Olympique Lyon where she scored 6 goals in 11 games last season in her first year after three years at PSG; she spent the end of last season on loan with Manchester United, appearing in 7 matches. She won two Elitedivisionen titles at home with Fortuna Hjorring, a French league title with PSG in 2020-21 and a UEFA WCL title with Lyon last season.
Scottish international forward (26) Abbi Grant spent last season with Leicester City and on loan to Glasgow City and has signed on permanently with Glasgow City. She previously played at Birmingham City (2019-21), at Anderlecht in Belgium, along with two previous spells at Glasgow City and time with Rangers, Celtic, Hibernian and Forfar Farmington F.C. in Scotland
Eastern European international player moves
Czech Republic international forward Andrea Staskova (22) moved from Sparta Prague in the summer of 2019, where she won two league title, to Juventus in Italy and won three league title; she is now moving onto Atletico Madrid in Spain and hopes to continue winning titles; she signed a two-year contract with the Spanish powerhouse. She already has 25 international caps and is one to watch over the next few years at both club and international level.
Another Czech Republic international, midfielder Kamila Dubcová, joined Milan after three seasons at Sassuolo. Her twin sister and fellow international midfielder Michaela played in 2019-2 with Sassuolo before returning home to play two seasons with Slovacko Zeny and has also joined Milan. They both signed two-year contracts.
Hungarian youth and full international defender Virag Nagy (21) moved from MTK Budapest to Sassuolo in Italy; she won two league titles at home in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Forward Tanya Romanenko (31)—who has over 60 caps with Ukraine and has played at home, in Russia, Korea Republic, Italy and for the last 5 seasons with Reims in France—has dropped down a division to help relegated St. Etienne back into the top flight. After two games in the 2022-23 season, the Greens are joint top with three other clubs with 6 points.
Lithuania international forward Liucija Vaitukaityte (22) has moved within Italy from Pomigliano to Parma; she has played for four seasons for three different clubs in Spain and played at home for Gintra Universitetas and Kauno Zalgiris in Lithuania’s A lyga.
Other moves to European clubs
Claudia Neto of Portugal (34), who won two league titles at Linkopings in Sweden and played in Spain and Germany and Italy and has over 130 caps, moved from Fiorentina in Italy to Sporting Lisbon at home.
Long-time Swedish international forward Kosovare Asllani played three seasons at CD Tacon/Real Madrid, scoring at roughly a clip of one goal every 2.5 games. She has over 160 caps for Sweden and has played at home in France with PSG, in England with Manchester City and in the WPS in 2010 with the Chicago Red Stars. She moved to AC Milan and said, “[I’m] Super excited to move to Italy, Milano and to call AC Milan my new home.”
Real Madrid signed a new forward in Naomie Feller (20) of France, who played at Reims for four years (and a short spell on loan at Lyon) and has been capped at every youth level since U-16; she won one full cap with France in 2021.
Defender Noemie Carage of France (26) moved to Milan from Dijon after four seasons and served as team captain; she signed a two-year deal with the Italian side.
Cyprus international midfielder Elena Aristodimou (20) is joining Meppen in Germany from Finland’s Jyväskylän Pallokerho, where she spent a season after one year in Sweden with Eskilstuna United.
German international forward Sara Dabritz (27) has moved to Olympique Lyon from Paris St. Germain in France, where she spent three seasons and scored 8 goals in 18 regular season matches in 2021-22. She was on Germany’s Women’s EURO this summer when the side finished runners-up to England; she won the European Championship in 2013 and has over 90 caps for her country.
Icelandic international forward Berglind Björg Thorvaldsdóttir (30) has moved from Brann of Norway to Pars St. German in France. She played collegiately at Florida State University and in Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, France (with Le Havre in 2020-21), Sweden and Norway.
Louise Eriksen (27) has moved from Kolding IF in her native Denmark to join Lazio in Italy. She is the younger sister of Danish international Christian Eriksen [Manchester United]. She was capped at the U-16 level and has been to one senior camp but not been capped, which the move to Italy could assist her in that aspiration.
Israeli international Noa Selimhodzic (18) played in 6 regular season matches last season for AC Milan and has moved to Germany’s Turbine Potsdam over the summer. She also qualified to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the international level through her parents.
Rachel Cuschieri is a Maltese international midfielder with over 60 caps and has played in Cyprus, Belgium and Netherlands before moving to Italy for the 2020-21 season. She played two seasons with Lazio, including a season in Serie B in 2020-21, but the club was relegated at the end of last season after only one season in Serie A. She has moved to Sampdoria in Serie A for the 2022-23 season.
African international transfers
Malawian international forward Tabitha Chawinga (26), who has played with Wuhan Jianghan University in China after two seasons with Jiangsu Suning (62 goals in 78 matches) after three seasons in Sweden with Kvarnsvedens IK, (where she scored 84 games in 70 matches and won a second division title with the club), has gone on loan to Inter Milan, where she already has 3 goals in her 2 games thus far, including a brace in Inter’s 3-3 tie with champions Juventus on September 11.
Malawi international Tabitha Chawinga strikes at goal for Inter Milan after her move back to Europe from China.
Photo courtesy Malawi24.com.
Chawinga played for Malawi last month and scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Comoros at the 2022 Hollywoodbets COSAFA Women’s Championship in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She returned to Italy before Malawi’s final group game, when they lost to Tanzania (3-1) and thus did not advance to the knockout stage. [Note: 2023 WWC Finalists Zambia won the tournament—led by Barbra Banda’s 10 goals—defeating South Africa’s B side 1-0 after extra time]. In China, Chawinga won three Golden Boot awards in five seasons and two Player of the Year awards.
Nigerian international forward Roosa Ariyo (28)—who was born in Finland, played collegiately in the States at Monroe Community College and the University of Bridgeport—has moved from Real Betis in Spain to Club Brugge in Belgium. She was first capped by Nigeria’s American-born head coach Randy Waldrum in the summer of 2021 against Jamaica and also won a U-20 cap for Finland a decade ago.
Drepoba Stéphanie Gbogou (27) of Burkina Faso moved from Malabo Kings of Equatorial Guinea to Soyaux-Charene in France; Malabo Kings finished fourth in the first African Champions League tournament last year,
CONCACAF Player Moves
Puerto Rico Sol sent American defender Jenna Holtz (26), who played at Santa Clara University, to Cacereno Femenino in Extremadura, Spain. She played also in Canada at Guelph University and with Valadares Gaia luso in Portugal.
The Sol signed an internationally known talent—Trina Davis (21) of Fiji—fresh from helping the host side which finished second in the OFC Nations Cup in July (see our interview with Trina Davis from earlier this year: The Week in Women’s Football: Interview with Fiji star Davis; Johnson joins San Diego; Houston face Pumas UNAM – Tribal Football).
Goalkeeper Emily Moore (23) of Canada, who played collegiately with the University of British Colombia in Vancouver, was released by West Ham United after a season and a half. She is now with Lewes in the second tier of the WSL.
American defender Brooke Hendrix (29), ex-Southern Mississippi State, has played in Scotland, Iceland, Italy, England (West Ham United in 2018-19), and two seasons in the NWSL—11 games in 2020 and 2021 with the Washington Spirit and Racing Louisville. She won a league title in Australia with the Melbourne Victory in 2021-22 and has joined Reading of the WSL.
American goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese (24), who played at the University of Florida, has joined 2021-22 English Women’s Super League runner-up Arsenal after two seasons with Denmark’s HB Koge. She helped HB Koge win two straight Danish league titles and played in all eight of last season’s HB Koge’s UEFA Women’s Champions League games. Marckese played for Iceland’s Selfoss before joining HB Koge in 2020.
American defender Antoinette Jewel Williams (25) moved from Kalmar of Sweden to sign a two-year contract with Parma in Italy; she started off playing in Iceland at IBV Vestermanneeyjar. Williams is Parma’s first American signee, with other imports coming from Portugal (2), England, Finland, Croatia, Ireland (see Niamh Farrelly above), Venezuela, Argentina and Sweden.
American midfielder Brenna Ochoa (24) went to the University of Nebraska and played with Fortuna Hjorring in the 2020-21 season and then last season with MSV Duisburg in Germany—who were promoted from the second division—scoring once in 26 matches. She has moved to her third European club in three seasons, joining Vittsjo GIK in Southwestern Sweden.
American defender Jazmin Jackmon (24) played at the University of Oregon and was the first NWSL draft choice in 2019 by the Houston Dash (#21 overall in the third round). She spent a year there before going to Europe and moved this summer from ŽFK Spartak Subotica to Fiorentina in Italy.
Spanish international defender Andrea Pereira (28) was another high profile Spanish international who moved from Spain’s top league to Liga MX Femenil in Mexico this summer—leaving Barcelona for Club America of Mexico City—joining former Barca teammate Jenni Hermosa who moved to Puebla, a hour south of Mexico City. Pereira played at Barca for four seasons and won the UEFA WCL and three league titles. She also played at Atletico Madrid (2 years) and Espanol (5 years); she has won over 40 caps for the Spanish national team and played three times with the non-FIFA aligned Catalonia national team. She played for Spain at this summer’s Women’s EURO in England and in last month’s final UEFA Group qualifiers; she is expected to be on the 2023 WWC Finals side.
CONMEBOL Internationals Moves
Ivana Fuso of Brazil (21) signed with Manchester United in the summer of 2020 and has been sent on loan to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany. Before joining Man United, she played for Freiburg in Germany and Basel in Switzerland. She was born in Salvador, Bahia in Brazil but raised in Germany and played on German national youth teams for years; she was a runner-up for the UEFA U-17 Championships in 2018 for Germany until she was capped by Brazil at the senior level in early 2021 at the SheBelieves Cup in the U.S.
Ivonne Chacón (24), a Colombian international forward, scored five goals in 18 matches last season with Millonarios of Colombia and has joined Valencia of Spain for the 2022-23 season. She played with Santa Fe at home in 2021 and scored four times in 12 games.
Venezuelan international forward Raiderlin Carrasco (20) has moved from Caracas FC at home to Sporting de Huelva of Spain. She played this summer for her national side at the Copa America Femenine in Colombia.
Asian International Signings
Japanese international defender Moeka Minami (23) has moved from Urawa Reds after five seasons to join Roma in Italy for her first move to a club abroad. She has over 20 full international caps for Japan and played at the 2014 U-17 WWC and 2018 U-20 WWC.
Japan international defender Risa Shimizu moved from Tokyo Verdy Beleza to join the WSL’s West Ham United—she has over 50 caps for the full Japanese national team, winning the 2018 Asian Women’s Cup. She won five consecutive Nadeshiko League titles with Beleza from 2015 through 2019 as well as the first AFC Women’s Club Championship in 2019. She signed a two-year contract with the Hammers.
Korea Republic midfielder Yeeun Park (25) has joined Brighton and Hove Albion on a two-year contract after moving from Gyeongju KHNP in the Korea Republic, who are currently second in the domestic K-League with 40 points from 18 games, 5 points behind Incheon Red Angels. She operates mainly on the right side of midfield. She has been capped ten times by Korea Republic since making her international debut in 2019 and becomes the fifth player from Korea Republic to play in the WSL, joining Geum Min Lee, who is about to embark on her third season with Albion.
China’s international defender Li Mengwen (27) has left Jangsu Suning, where she won a league title in 2019, for Paris St. Germain this summer on a year-long loan. She was a member of China’s AFC Women’s Nations Cup winning team earlier this year in India
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get yours copy today.
Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey