The Women's transfer market revolution

Six months ago, TransferRoom launched its new Women’s Marketplace with a simple ambition: to make the women’s transfer market more transparent, connected and efficient.

Since then, the response has exceeded expectations.

Launched in February 2026 ahead of the summer transfer window, the Women’s Marketplace has brought together more than 100 clubs and agencies from across the global women’s game, creating new opportunities for players and helping recruitment teams make faster, more informed decisions.

In just six months, 80+ clubs across 24 countries and 26 leagues have joined the platform, with 250+ players made available for transfer or loan. 20+ Agencies from 12 countries have also joined, representing 550+ verified players.

More than 350 player requirement adverts have been shared by clubs, in order to support with their recruitment objectives for the summer window.

The platform has already facilitated 450 successful club-to-club matches and 200 successful club-to-agency matches, helping bring a growing number of transfers and loan moves to fruition.

For Claire Rafferty, TransferRoom’s Senior Customer Success Manager and former England Lioness, the growth has been remarkable.

Rafferty said: “It’s been a whirlwind in terms of the growth that we’ve seen. We launched at the end of February with a massive bang and that momentum just continued throughout.

“Obviously, it was great timing with the build-up to the summer window, but we’ve also seen agencies coming onto the platform and successful deals coming through.”

But for Rafferty, the most significant development has been the way clubs and agencies are using information to improve the transfer process.

“One thing that we can be proud of is the way that the clubs and agencies are actually using data to make informed decisions," she said.

"They’re being transparent, and that’s exactly what women’s football has needed.

“The player availability side of things - a club reaching out to another club already understanding, firstly, that the player is available, but secondly, the financials around it - just makes that conversation a lot easier.”

Taking the marketplace offline

The launch of the Women’s Marketplace was followed by another important milestone just days later: TransferRoom’s first dedicated in-person event for the women’s game.

Held at Stamford Bridge at the end of February, TransferRoom Leaders: Women’s Football Forum brought together leading clubs, agencies and decision-makers from across women’s football for a day of networking, knowledge-sharing and transfer discussions.

For a marketplace built around connecting the right people, the event provided an important opportunity to take those conversations offline and build relationships face-to-face.

That approach has continued throughout the year, with TransferRoom LIVE Virtual: Women’s Football bringing the marketplace’s network together around the key moments of the transfer calendar.

Ahead of the summer window, the May edition brought together more than 100 attendees, who held over 500 meetings with clubs and agencies from across the global game. A second edition in July, during the window itself, saw more than 80 attendees take part in over 400 meetings.

These virtual events have provided clubs and agencies with a focused environment to discuss player requirements, share opportunities and build relationships at a time when transfer activity is at its peak.

And the conversations have translated into action, with numerous deals facilitated through connections made at the events and new networks created between clubs, agencies and players throughout the summer window.

Want to be part of the next chapter? Join TransferRoom LIVE Deal Day Virtual: Women’s Football on 8 December.

The first Women's Marketplace Deal

One of the defining moments of the first six months came when RB Leipzig and Molde FK completed the first deal facilitated through the Women’s Marketplace: Persis Oteng’s loan move to Molde MK.

“We discussed with her and her agent that there is the option to go on loan to get playing time. We then made her available for loan on TransferRoom’s Women’s Marketplace," explained Viola Odebrecht, Head of Women’s Football at RB Leipzig.

That initial connection however was made at the Women’s Football Forum, where Molde met CMG Sports, the agency representing Oteng.

Bradley Rains, Head of Women’s Football at CMG Sports, explained how the meeting helped move the opportunity forward:

“We had a meeting with Molde at the Women’s Football Forum event in Stamford Bridge, where we were able to discuss our clients in more detail and reinforce Persis as an option that suited the club’s immediate needs.

“For us as an agency, having that direct access is huge. It allows us to find the right opportunities for our players much more efficiently.”

For Oteng, being part of the first deal made the move even more significant.

“It’s a really special feeling to be the first signing through the Women’s Marketplace,” she said. “It makes me proud to be part of something new that’s pushing the women’s game forward.”

Oteng has since joined PEC Zwolle on a one-year deal, with her loan spell at Molde forming an important part of her development. For RB Leipzig, the platform also helped overcome a key challenge: making the right clubs aware that a player was available.

The same combination of digital connection and face-to-face relationship building also played a role in the transfer of Mao Itamura from Feyenoord to Liverpool.

Liverpool Head of Recruitment Rob Clarkson met Feyenoord Head of Women’s Football Manon Melis at the Women’s Football Forum, opening discussions around Itamura.

“Speaking to Manon at the in-person event opened up the conversation about the player,” Clarkson explained.

“We then watched Mao in person multiple times and the deal moved forward from there.”

For Melis, the event provided the foundations for what would become a successful transfer.

“The TransferRoom Women’s Football Forum event in February at Stamford Bridge marked the beginning of the negotiations with Liverpool for the sale of Mao,” she said.

“It was great to meet each other in person and build the relationship, before entering into negotiations later on.”

From first deal to a growing transfer network

The Oteng and Itamura moves were just the beginning.

Since launching, the Women’s Marketplace has helped facilitate hundreds of successful matches between clubs, while agencies have also used the platform to connect their verified players with clubs looking to strengthen their squads.

That activity has already translated into a growing number of completed transfers and loans, demonstrating the breadth of opportunities being created across the network.

Among the confirmed facilitated transfers through TransferRoom's Women's Marketplace are:

• Persis Oteng — RB Leipzig → Molde FK (loan) - facilitated by CMG Sports

• Mao Itamura — Feyenoord → Liverpool

• Natalia Ramos — CD Tenerife Femenino → Liverpool

• Hana Lowry — Sydney FC Women → Vålerenga Fotball Women - facilitated by CMG Sports

• Hildur Antonsdóttir — Madrid CFF → Newcastle United - facilitated by KSirius Football Management

• Aoife Colvill — Standard Liège → Hibernian

• Julie Jorde — Brøndby IF → Parma

• Avani Brandt — HB Køge → Feyenoord

• Sofia Jahnukainen — HJK → AS Roma

• Lois Shooter — Chelsea → Nottingham Forest (loan) - facilitated by CMG Sports

• Kristin Kögel — Bayer Leverkusen → Strasbourg

• Leonie Köster — Union Berlin → BSC Young Boys (loan)

• Katariina Kosola — Malmö → Vålerenga

• Alma Aagaard — BSC Young Boys → SKN St. Pölten (loan)

• Gina Chmielinski — RB Leipzig → Parma

• Lene Christensen - Rosenborg BK → Hammarby (loan) - facilitated by BekDreams Management

• Camille Lafaix — Rangers FC → OH Leuven Women - facilitated by Complete Sports Group

The platform has also seen agencies share requirements with one another, creating opportunities beyond the traditional club-to-agency or club-to-club pathway.

For Rafferty, that expansion is particularly exciting.

“The first success story of Persis [Oteng] joining Molde was the highlight of the first six months," she explained.

"But then the loan moves that we're seeing and the agency-to-club deals have also been exciting.

"With the agency side of things, we've actually seen agencies sharing requirements as well as bringing in that intermediation side of things which is great to see."

What we didn't expect

Like any major launch, the first six months of the Women’s Marketplace have brought both expected outcomes and unexpected discoveries.

One of the biggest has been the scale of the data challenge facing the women’s game.

TransferRoom knew there was a need for more reliable, accessible information. But working directly with clubs and agencies has highlighted just how difficult it can be to find even some of the most fundamental details about players.

Information such as contract expiry dates, player availability and representation can often be difficult to establish, particularly when recruitment teams are operating across multiple markets.

For Rafferty, the scale of the challenge has become increasingly clear since the launch.

“We knew there was a lack of reliable data in the women’s game before we launched, but I think we underestimated just how significant that gap was," she explains.

"There are clubs that are still having to spend huge amounts of time trying to establish some of the most basic information about a player.”

For clubs and agencies, the impact is significant. Without reliable information, recruitment teams can spend hours trying to establish whether a player is available, who represents them or whether they meet specific requirements.

The Women’s Marketplace is already helping to address some of those challenges, but TransferRoom sees an opportunity to go much further.

“The ambition is to give clubs and agencies information they can genuinely trust and use to make decisions.

"The more information that becomes standardised and accessible, the more efficient the whole market becomes.

"We’re still at the beginning of that journey, but the first six months have shown us just how important it is."

Six months in - and just getting started

The first six months have shown what is possible when the women’s transfer market has the infrastructure to connect the right people with the right information at the right time.

But the numbers only tell part of the story.

For Rafferty, the real impact is the time saved, the information made accessible and the conversations that would otherwise be much harder to start.

"I’ve had feedback from many clubs saying that the time that they’ve saved and the efficiency has been incredible. So we're very proud of what we’ve done with lots more to come.”

And with the women’s game continuing to grow, the need for an efficient global transfer market will only become more important.

So what does Rafferty believe could take place in the next six months?

"I think continuous growth. The education piece of what TransferRoom is not complete yet, but we are quite far down the line in terms of women’s clubs and agencies knowing what TransferRoom is and how it can solve their pain points.

"What I’m expecting is lots more clubs and agencies to be engaged in terms of joining the platform, attending our events, doing deals at our events and on the platform. 

"Especially as we build up to a World Cup year in Brazil next year, it’s going to be a very exciting time.”

Join the Women's Marketplace now

Find out everything you need to know, and see how to register for the new Women’s Marketplace on TransferRoom now, here.

Join the next Women’s Football transfer event

On 8 December, TransferRoom LIVE Deal Day: Women’s Football will bring together 100+ influential decision-makers from leading clubs and Trusted Agents across the globe for a full day of virtual transfer discussions.

With clubs and agencies able to connect directly, discuss requirements and explore opportunities across the global women’s game, the event will provide another opportunity to turn connections into transfer action.

Join TransferRoom LIVE Deal Day: Women’s Football on 8 December by clicking here.