Barcelona sign Kerolin from Man City in WSL record sale

Barcelona have completed the signing of Brazilian forward Kerolin from Manchester City.

The deal is believed to be worth around £1.25m and is the largest fee ever received by a WSL club, eclipsing Olivia Smith's £1m move to Arsenal from Liverpool last summer.

Kerolin only joined City in January last year and had another two years left on her contract, but Barca made her a priority after losing several of their key players to WSL clubs this summer, including Alexia Putellas and Mapi Leon to London City Lionesses.

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Their previous most expensive transfer was then-Man City midfielder Keira Walsh, who joined in 2022 for a fee of €470,000 (£400,000).

Kerolin scored nine goals in 15 league games for City last season to help them to their first WSL title since 2016.

Why Barcelona have broken transfer record for Kerolin

Sky Sports' Laura Hunter:

It's been brief. Kerolin only joined the Women's Super League from the NWSL 18 months ago. She now leaves as the English top-flight's most expensive export.

Barcelona were willing to smash their own transfer policy in pursuit of the Brazilian having never previously paid a fee over £500k.

But Kerolin represents an exception to the rule. It's always been that way, from the start of her journey playing barefoot with boys on the streets of Sao Paulo. She was different. The ball hurt to kick, she confessed, but she did it anyway.

As such, there is perhaps an air of inevitability about the 26-year-old's switch to the four-time European champions. This is the path she expected to follow. "Always the most highly-ranked players are playing here or in Spain," she told Sky Sports upon signing for Man City in January 2025. "To be in the vision of the world."

She leaves a WSL champion.

Read Laura Hunter's analysis of Kerolin's big-money move