A record fee has been paid for a transfer between two NWSL clubs, after Gotham FC completed the signing of the United States midfielder Jaedyn Shaw from North Carolina Courage for $1.25m.
The move is the sixth in the women’s game to surpass $1m US so far this year, with Naomi Girma’s move to Chelsea in January being the first to do so. Shaw’s move is not quite an NWSL record, falling just short of Orlando Pride’s $1.5m acquisition of Lizbeth Jacqueline Ovalle from the Mexican club Tigres in August, but it is a record for an intraleague player move in NWSL, and thus immediately becomes one of the most significant transfers in the sport’s history.
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“I’m so excited to be a part of this incredible club and community,” Shaw said of joining Gotham, who were the first winners of the Concacaf W Champions Cup in May. “I’m looking forward to playing alongside world-class players and giving my all to help the team win another championship.”
Shaw was part of the United States team that won gold at the 2024 Olympics under Emma Hayes. The 20-year-old already has 26 senior caps for her country, scoring eight times and providing two assists. She can play in attack as well as in midfield and made her senior USWNT debut in 2023.
In the NWSL, she has scored 16 times across 68 appearances for a combination of North Carolina Courage and her other former club, San Diego Wave, whom she helped win the NWSL Shield in 2023. She had only been with North Carolina since Januar, when she moved from San Diego for $300,000 in allocation money, an international spot for the 2025 and 2026 NWSL seasons, and $150,000 in intraleague transfer fees to San Diego, in a deal that could also involved further intraleague transfer fees. That package has clearly been surpassed by her move on Thursday, though, in another demonstration of the rising transfer fees in the women’s game.
