Barcelona shatter their own transfer record to sign WSL's most expensive export Kerolin Nicoli

Barcelona have signed Brazilian forward Kerolin Nicoli, 26, from Manchester City for a reported £1.25m, breaking the Women’s Super League’s record for the highest fee ever received for one of its players and more than doubling the four-time European champions’ own previous transfer ceiling of £500k.

The deal represents a strikingly quick turnaround for a player who only arrived in the WSL 18 months ago. Kerolin joined Manchester City from the NWSL in January 2025, made 26 league appearances, scored 12 goals, and was part of the City side that won their first WSL title in a decade during the 2025-26 season.

From São Paulo to the Camp Nou

Kerolin’s path to the top has been unconventional. She learned the game barefoot, playing with boys on the streets of São Paulo — an upbringing that shaped the relentless, physical style she has since brought to Europe’s top two leagues. She drew interest from Arsenal before choosing Manchester City, and her rapid rise in England made the move to Barcelona feel, in retrospect, close to inevitable.

The £1.25m fee surpasses the record previously set by Olivia Smith’s transfer from Liverpool to Arsenal last summer.

Filling the void left by Barcelona’s summer departures

The timing of the signing is significant. Barcelona said goodbye to Alexia Putellas, Ona Batlle, Mapi León and Salma Paralluelo this summer, leaving a clear gap for a forward capable of scoring, creating and offering explosive pace from either flank. Kerolin fits that profile closely — only Khadija Shaw and Stina Blackstenius bettered her goals-per-90 ratio during her time in England, and no WSL player matched her for take-ons attempted or completed.

She joins a squad still being reshaped under director of football Pere Romeu, rather than rebuilt from scratch. Each of the last five Ballon d’Or winners were playing for Barcelona at the time of their award, and Kerolin now lines up alongside current holder Aitana Bonmatí.

What the fee signals

Barcelona’s willingness to break their own spending threshold sends a clear message to the rest of the continent: they intend to remain the benchmark in women’s football even as the financial gap between them and their closest rivals narrows.

For Manchester City, the deal delivers a significant financial return and opens space in their wide-forward positions, with Aoba Fujino, Mary Fowler, Iman Beney and new signing Beth Mead among the candidates to push further into the side.