Smith Arsenal’s second historic move

Opinion

When Arsenal signed Olivia Smith from Liverpool on Thursday, it marked just the second time the North London club had broken the world transfer record.

The first, in 1928, saw marksman David Jack join the Gunners from Bolton for more than £10,000 (about £800,000, or US$1.1 million in today’s money) and become the first footballer to break the five-digit barrier.

According to Arsenal historian Bob Wall, the deal was made in a hotel bar where manager Herbert Chapman had the waiter double up his Bolton counterparts’ gin and tonics. Jack, who is famous for scoring the first Wembley goal, would go on to tally 124 times for Arsenal, leading them to three titles and the FA Cup.

Here’s guessing current director Clare Wheatley, nearly a century on from the Jack transaction, was able to complete her own piece of business without resorting to Chapman’s trickery. What she and the legendary boss do have in common is a sense of history — or, as she called it on Thursday, a “special moment.”

Special, indeed; and not just for the club, but for a very special player.

Smith, who turns 21 next month, was born in North York, Ont., and is the Canadian women’s national team’s next great hope. She is also the most expensive player in women’s football history and the first to transfer for more than £1 million, or US$1.34 million. And just last year she moved from Sporting CP to Liverpool for US$269 million.

No women’s footballer, from any country in any era, has commanded more in total transfer fees. No player, period, has set a world transfer record at such a young age since Ronaldo swapped PSV Eindhoven for Barcelona in 1996.

That’s the sort of company Smith is keeping.

A few more tidbits: When she made her Canada debut at 15, she became the youngest player to do so (Christine Sinclair was 16); she was the Portuguese league’s Young Player of the Season in 2023-24 while at Sporting; last October, she became the first woman to score for Liverpool at Anfield; this spring, she was named Liverpool Players’ Player of the Year.

Incredibly — and this is an indication of what she expects from herself — Smith says she struggled with the Reds last term, despite leading the team in scoring. Arsenal are also trying to temper expectations, framing her as a player for the future in a team stacked with veterans like Kim Little, Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Stina Blackstenius.

They’re the reigning European champions, after all, and their big star is Spain international and Women’s Super League MVP Mariona Caldentey.

Now, take an eager, outgoing young footballer who happens to be an elite prospect and put her on the training ground with those types of teammates. It’s an incubator of excellence, and Smith will only develop into an even better player as a result.

As for the transfer fee, a less resilient athlete might let the weight of it bog her down. To their credit, Arsenal have placed Smith in a situation designed to have her succeed.

For her part, and much like swimmer Summer McIntosh, Smith is a new kind of female Canadian athlete. It’s not that she expects to excel, it’s just that nothing she’s encountered on the pitch has told her she can’t be better than everyone else. That’s her reference point.

Fine, but why would Liverpool sell her?

It’s not the right question.

Arsenal acquired Smith because they’re a club committed to the women’s game, who envision even more growth and who have administrators already planning the team that will contend for trophies three or four years from now.

Smith is the star of that team. She is the figure Wheatley and the Arsenal brain trust have targeted to lead the Gunners in supplanting Chelsea — winners of the last six Super League titles — as English football’s undisputed and pre-eminent outfit over the long term.

Similarly, she is central to everything the national team hopes to accomplish over the next 10 to 15 years, beginning in November of 2026.

That CONCACAF W Championship, in which Canada are perennial runners-up, will also serve as qualification for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Between those two events is the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, and the CONCACAF W Gold Cup will take place in 2029.

Smith will be just 24 when that cycle of tournaments concludes and the next one begins. She’ll be an experienced professional just hitting her prime.

It’s difficult to not look ahead with excitement and imagine what might be in store. In that regard, Smith might be the most grounded, focused individual associated with her club or country.

Arsenal haven’t won a title since 2019 or an FA Cup since 2016. Those are the trophies Smith will be wanting to lift quickly and often.

The Gunners have invested a record sum because they believe she will.

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