Washington Spirit sign Luvanga - but is it a record deal?

Tanzanian striker Clara Luvanga has joined the Washington Spirit from Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr in a deal believed to be one of the most costly in the history of women's football.

The fee paid by the National Women's Soccer League side has not been officially disclosed.

Some are reporting it to be $2.3m, external (about £1.7m), which would make Luvanga the most expensive female footballer in history.

BBC Sport has not been able to verify this figure, although a well-placed source said they believed it ranked in the top five most expensive signings in the women's game.

The Spirit declined to comment on the fee involved when contacted by BBC Sport.

Luvanga, 21, has signed a contract running to the end of the 2029 NWSL season.

If the reported record figure is correct, it would mean the fee passes the £1.4m that London City Lionesses are said to have paid to Paris St-Germain for Grace Geyoro last year.

However, the Geyoro fee has been disputed, further illustrating how transfer figures in the women's game are often kept private.

With her move, Luvanga becomes the first Tanzanian player in NWSL history.

Luvanga won the Saudi Women's Premier League in all three of her seasons with Al-Nassr, as well as the Saudi Women's Cup, Saudi Women's Super Cup and West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Women's Clubs Championship.

She also claimed the league's golden boot last season after scoring 24 goals in 14 appearances.

The Washington Spirit are owned by Michele Kang, who also owns London City Lionesses.

London City made a series of high-profile signings during the summer transfer window, including two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas who arrived from Barcelona on a three-year deal.

Luvanga made her senior international debut for Tanzania in 2024. Before joining Al-Nassr in 2023, she played for DUX Logrono in Spain, having developed through the youth system at Tanzanian club Yanga Princess.

When discussing her new club, Luvanga said: "I am very excited to join the Washington Spirit and to take on this new challenge in the NWSL.

"I know I am arriving with the season already under way, but I'm really excited to play in a new league and a new country."

Spirit sporting director James Hocken said: "Clara adds an exciting new dimension to our attack as we head toward the play-offs.

"Despite her young age, she has demonstrated the ability to score goals in different ways and has the profile to be very successful in this league."

Luvanga's rise from Tanzania to one of the world's most competitive women's football leagues has been remarkably rapid.

She began her career with Yanga Princess in her native country before her big international breakthrough came in August 2023, when she joined Spanish side DUX Logrono. But Spain was only a brief stop on her career journey.

By October of that year, Luvanga headed for Saudi Arabia to join Al-Nassr, a move that would prove transformative for her career.

Over three seasons in the Middle East, she helped Al-Nassr win the Saudi Women's Premier League title each time, establishing herself as one of the division's most prolific forwards.

Her time at Al-Nassr also provided an opportunity to meet one of football's biggest stars, Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Al-Nassr's men's team. Luvanga has spoken about modelling aspects of her own career on the Portuguese forward.

"The focus and determination that he has, when you look at his life, I wish to live like that," she told BBC Sport Africa in 2025.

There is another side to the Tanzanian forward that goes beyond the goals.

Her former team-mate at Al-Nassr, goalkeeper Sara Khalid Al-Dossary, described Luvanga to BBC Sport Africa as a great player and colleague but also revealed another of her talents: she is a great dancer.

Now Luvanga is taking both her football and her personality to the United States.

Her move to the Washington Spirit makes her the first Tanzanian woman to play in the NWSL, another significant milestone in the internationalisation of Tanzanian women's football.

She will also enter a dressing room containing a sizeable African contingent, with the Washington Spirit's roster now featuring seven African internationals.

For all her success at club level, Luvanga has not enjoyed the same impact in Tanzania colours at senior international level. Her 12 goals for Tanzania have come at youth level — 10 for the U-17 side and two for the U-20 team, while fitness problems have limited her involvement around the past two Women's Africa Cup of Nations campaigns.