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Jeff Kassouf
The Washington Spirit have secured the signing of 18-year-old Paraguayan forward Claudia Martínez from Club Olimpia for a transfer fee of $950,000, according to informed sources.
This fee, which also includes a sell-on clause for any future transfers involving Olimpia, ranks among the top ten transfer fees in women’s soccer history.
Having recently turned 18, Martínez shone at the youth international level for Paraguay
ABC Color 730 AM in Paraguay was the first to report the news. Olimpia had announced a new long-term contract for Martínez in December, which reportedly included a “multi-million-dollar termination clause.” However, sources have clarified to ESPN that this clause does not pertain to the transfer, as the $950,000 (plus the sell-on clause) is the complete financial aspect of the deal. In soccer, it is common for transfers to be finalized at fees lower than stipulated release clauses, which often act as benchmarks rather than strict minimums. In her senior tournament debut last year, Martínez emerged as a co-leading scorer at the Copa América Femenina, netting a hat trick against Bolivia and scoring against Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela throughout the tournament. Martínez will join the NWSL team on a contract that runs through 2028, with a team option for 2029. Importantly, due to the NWSL’s annual net transfer limits, the $950,000 fee will be paid in two installments: $500,000 this year and $450,000 next year, as confirmed by a source to ESPN. The NWSL’s net transfer threshold controls how much each team can allocate toward transfers each year, much like a salary cap regulates player salaries. The net transfer threshold is scheduled to increase by 10% annually for the remainder of the current NWSL collective bargaining agreement, setting it at $605,000 for each team in 2026. Teams exceeding their net threshold will incur a 25% penalty on their salary cap for the excess amount. In practical terms, if a team spends $500,000 on a player and receives $400,000 for a player transfer, their net threshold will reflect a $100,000 difference. Before her impressive performance at the Copa América, Martínez had already led Paraguay to its first U17 CONMEBOL title, topping the tournament with ten goals. She will be joining a Spirit team that has finished as runners-up for both the NWSL Shield and playoffs in the past two seasons.