Luany joins OL Reign on second-highest transfer fee from Brazilian league

In the world of women’s soccer transfers, the fees involved are still rarely disclosed. However, in a story on Tuesday, Brazilian site ge gave some details about the recent transfer of midfielder Luany from Grêmio to OL Reign. According to the report [in Portuguese], OL Reign paid Grêmio a fee of approximately US$50,000 to sign the 20-year-old.

This is the second-highest fee ever paid for a player coming out of the Brasileirão Feminino, behind only Adriana, who was acquired by the Orlando Pride in January from Corinthians for a fee of roughly US$100,000, according to the same ge report. Transfer fees in the NWSL are paid out of a team’s available allocation money, of which clubs are able to purchase $600,000 this season, in addition to any they have acquired through trades or carried over from prior seasons.

The report comes in conjunction with Luany’s P-1 visa being approved. OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey announced that Luany joined up with her new teammates just ahead of their game on Sunday in Washington, D.C., and has started training with the club this week in the build-up to their next match at Gotham FC.

International transfers, and the associated fees, are rapidly increasing in women’s soccer, with increases of 25% annually over the past few years. The highest transfer fee to date was for Keira Walsh, for whom Barcelona paid Manchester City nearly US$500,000 last summer. In January, Arsenal made an offer of approximately US$560,000 to Manchester United for Alessia Russo, but the offer was turned down. In 2021, OL Reign acquired Alana Cook from PSG for an unspecified fee, which FIFA later reported was among the top 5 fees paid that year — likely in the range of US$200,000 - $250,000. Within the league, OL Reign recently acquired Elyse Bennett from Kansas City (along with the 23rd overall draft pick) for $150,000 in allocation money.