Orlando Pride have completed a deal to sign Zambia forward Barbra Banda for the second-highest transfer fee in women’s football.
Recruited from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shengli for $740,000 (£582,128), Banda has signed a four-year contract with the NWSL side. The price tag makes her the second most expensive player in the history of women’s football, following Bay FC’s recruitment of Banda’s international teammate Racheal Kundananji from Liga F side Madrid CFF for $787,600 in February.
“The National Women’s Soccer League is one of the most competitive and strongest leagues in the world so it’s very humbling to get a chance to play in it,” Banda said. “Since my first meeting with the club and the general manager I knew this was a club I wanted to join. I can’t wait to meet my new teammates and start working with them. I hope to help the team in my small capacity to do great things and win a lot of trophies together.”
Banda scored 41 goals in 51 games for Shanghai Shengli and won the golden boot in her first season at the club. The forward then burst onto the world stage at the Tokyo Olympics, scoring back-to-back hat tricks against the Netherlands and China.
In 2022 Banda scored 10 goals to finish top scorer as Zambia won the Cosafa Women’s Championship. In the run up to the 2023 World Cup she netted twice, either side of a Kundananji goal, as Zambia earned an exhilarating 3-2 win over Germany. At the tournament itself Banda scored Zambia’s second in their final group game, a 3-1 win over Costa Rica, which was their first World Cup win.
“It has always been our vision to build the Orlando Pride into an NWSL Championship contender and we believe investment in the world’s best players is a prerequisite for success,” said the Orlando Pride owner and chairman, Mark Wilf.
Orlando Pride vice-president of soccer operations and general manager, Haley Carter, added: “Barbra is a natural-born goal scorer and one of the most physically imposing forwards in the world. Turning only 24 years old this month we have every confidence she will be an impact player in our attack for years to come. We are excited to help her grow and expand upon the various layers of her game and cannot wait to see her in purple.”
