Smith joins Arsenal for world record £1m fee

Canada forward Olivia Smith has become the most expensive signing in women's football history by completing a £1m move to Arsenal from Liverpool.

The 20-year-old, who made her international debut at 15, has signed a four-year deal with the Champions League holders.

Smith's move breaks the record set by Chelsea in January when they signed USA defender Naomi Girma for £900,000 from San Diego Wave.

"It's a privilege and an honour to sign for Arsenal," said Smith.

"It's my dream to compete for the biggest titles here in England and in Europe and I'm excited to get started and contribute to doing that here with Arsenal."

Trevor Francis became the first £1m men's player when he joined Nottingham Forest 46 years ago.

Smith, who only turned professional in 2023, joined Liverpool from Portuguese side Sporting a year ago for a club record fee of just over £200,000.

Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers said Smith is an "exciting young player" who can make a "big contribution".

She scored seven goals in 20 Women's Super League games in her debut season as Liverpool finished seventh.

Liverpool are without a manager since sacking Matt Beard in February, with former Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor the leading candidate to take over.

Arsenal did not want to sit still after winning the Women's Champions League and vowed to strengthen their squad.

This is an eye-catching recruit that does just that with Smith widely considered one of the WSL's most exciting youngsters, with a high ceiling of potential.

She brings pace and directness to Arsenal's attacking line-up and has already proven herself in the WSL with a successful season at Liverpool.

There has been longstanding interest in Smith from Arsenal, who were beaten to her signature by Liverpool in 2024, and they have always been ready to spend should they need to.

The Reds have made a profit of almost £800,000 after breaking their club record last summer to sign Smith, and they will see this as good business despite losing one of the world's brightest young talents.

Liverpool managing director Andy O'Boyle rejected several bids until £1m was presented. The £1m payment will be made in instalments to allow Liverpool to invest gradually.

The club hope to use this money to strengthen the squad in several areas this season.

There is also a sell-on clause, so Liverpool will benefit from any future sale.

Smith had several suitors but it is believed she was impressed by Arsenal's recruitment presentation.

Having left home as a teenager to play professional football in Portugal, then leap up to the WSL, all by the age of 20, Arsenal think she has proven her character and ability to be part of an elite squad.

Smith's football journey began aged five when she joined Whitby Iroquois SC, and she made her debut in the Canada youth set-up at 12.

Fast forward three years to 2019 and she was catapulted on to the international stage, featuring against Brazil and New Zealand at an invitational tournament in Chongqing, China.

Smith went on to represent Canada at two Concacaf Women's U20 Championships (2022, 2023) and two Women's U20 World Cups (2022, 2024), and returned to the senior side in 2023, earning selection for that year's World Cup.

She scored her first international goal in a 6-0 victory over El Salvador at the 2024 Gold Cup and was named the tournament's best young player.

Smith is seen not only as the successor to talismanic record goalscorer Christine Sinclair but the key to Canada's hopes of winning international honours.

At club level, Smith began her career in 2022 with North Toronto Nitros in League 1 Ontario, winning the golden boot in her debut campaign with 18 goals in 11 games.

She then spent one season in the NCAA playing college football for Penn State Nittany Lions before forgoing the rest of her university eligibility to turn professional, signing a three-year contract with Sporting in July 2023.

They fought off competition from Chelsea and PSG, and, for then head coach Mariana Cabral, Smith's potential was clear.

"Thirty seconds into the video we were like, 'yep, let's sign her'. She was clearly a whole package, which is very rare," Cabral told BBC Sport.

"Not only did she have the technical ability, but she also had the physicality. She's explosive and strong, good on the ball and can nutmeg you to get past you like that.

"She wanted to get her professional career started and that's why she came to us. She liked us because of the way we played at the time - very possession-based, very attacking - and she needed minutes to grow.

"But we knew Portugal was a stepping stone for her; she would go on to bigger places."

In her first season in Europe, Smith amassed 22 goals involvements (13 goals, nine assists) in 18 league appearances as she collected another best young player gong and Sporting finished second in the table.

She also caught the attention of Liverpool, signing before the 2024-25 season.

Smith hit the ground running in a Liverpool shirt, scoring against West Ham only 76 minutes into her WSL career and quickly becoming their main attacking threat.

She topped their goalscoring charts, netting seven times in 20 league starts, with no other player contributing more than three goals.

Smith also led the way for touches in the opposition's box (92) and shots (50), including 16 efforts on target and a conversion rate of 14%.

Across all competitions, she registered nine goals and one assist in 25 appearances and established her as a player for the big occasion.

She scored Liverpool's first WSL goal at Anfield and also opened the scoring against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final.

Her team-mates voted her players' player of the season and players' young player of the season.

Smith's goalscoring exploits have put her in good company.

According to Opta, when comparing debut WSL seasons, she outscored Mayra Ramirez (four), Vivianne Miedema (four), and new Arsenal team-mate Alessia Russo (three), while across Europe's big five leagues last season only two players aged 20 or under scored more goals than Smith - Barcelona's Vicky Lopez (10) and Freiburg's Cora Zicai (nine).

However, Arsenal can expect far more than just goals from their seven-figure signing.

Smith is a versatile forward. Although she spent the majority of last season playing as a striker, she also clocked up significant time on the right wing, perhaps most notably in the FA Cup semi-final.

Commentating on that match, former England midfielder Fara Williams described her as "a weapon down the right-hand side".

Smith won the second highest number of fouls in the WSL last season, with 14 of the 46 coming in the final third.