The WSL window has shut, the numbers are in, and the gap between the top clubs and the rest is wider than most want to admit.
The summer 2026-27 transfer window closed before a ball was kicked, and the data from Soccerdonna's market value estimates tells a pretty uncomfortable story about where power actually sits in this league.
Arsenal and London City Are Playing a Different Game
Arsenal's incoming players carry a combined estimated market value of €3.9m. London City Lionesses are just behind at €3.5m. Those figures might sound modest next to the £3.4bn the Premier League spent this summer, but in WSL terms they are extraordinary. Eight of the 14 clubs in the division have entire squads worth less than either of those sums. Let that land for a second.
London City's two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas alone is valued at €1.15m. That single player is worth more than the whole Charlton squad. [The Lionesses were already being talked up as serious title contenders this season](/uprise/football/womens-super-league-2026-27-preview-no-10-london-city-lionesses), and this kind of recruitment firepower only reinforces why.
At the other end of the scale, West Ham deserve credit for recognising their problems and doing something about it. They lost players who contributed 6,322 minutes in 2025-26, nearly a third of their total playing time. Chief among the departures was goalkeeper Kinga Szemik, who started 19 of 22 WSL games. When you finish 10th having won three of your first 19 matches, you cannot afford to lose your most reliable player and not replace her. West Ham's new arrivals actually carry a higher combined value than the players who stayed from last season. Whether that translates to results is a different conversation, but the intent is there.
The WSL Is Doing Transfers Better Than the Men
This is the part that should embarrass Premier League clubs the most. Around a sixth of all Premier League signings this summer were completed on deadline day. More than a third of transfer fee money was spent after the 2026-27 season had already kicked off. It is chaos dressed up as drama, and [it has been a recurring issue that warps pre-season planning](/uprise/football/world-cup-wishlists-early-movers-big-clearouts-2026-summer-transfer).
The WSL had hit the same proportion of total signings four weeks before deadline day arrived. Every club went into the new campaign knowing their squad. Fifa's own data shows global spending in women's football rose 83.6% year-on-year. WSL clubs' agent fees jumped 75% in the year to February 2026. This is not a cottage industry running on goodwill and favours anymore. The sums are growing fast, and yet the organisation has not slipped. That is genuinely impressive.
There are risks buried in the window too. Aston Villa lost players who contributed 17 goal involvements last season. That represents 36.2% of their total output from 2025-26, the highest share lost by any club who were in the WSL last season. Manchester City lost Kerolin's goal contributions too, but they have the depth to absorb it. Villa do not obviously have that luxury.
Our take: The WSL window was efficient, well-planned, and increasingly serious with its money. The top clubs are pulling away from the rest. Aston Villa need to find goals from somewhere. And if Premier League clubs had any sense, they would spend less time manufacturing deadline day theatre and more time watching how the women's game actually runs a transfer window.