Clara Luvanga has put Tanzania on top of Africa’s women’s football transfer map. The 21-year-old striker has completed a sensational move from Saudi champions Al-Nassr to Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), with the transfer reportedly worth a staggering $2.3 million.
If confirmed, the deal would make Luvanga the most expensive African woman footballer ever and set a new world record in the women’s game.
Washington Spirit confirmed the move on Wednesday, handing Luvanga a four-year contract through 2029, but the American club did not disclose the transfer fee.
African football journalist Micky Jnr reported the figure at around $2.3m. That valuation would smash the previous recognised benchmark held by Lizbeth Ovalle, whose 2025 transfer from Tigres to Orlando Pride was valued at about $1.48m by Guinness World Records.
Luvanga would also leapfrog recent high-profile deals involving Grace Geyoro and Olivia Smith. Felicia Schröder moved from Häcken to Real Madrid for a reported €1.5m, while Kerolin joined Barcelona from Manchester City for the same amount in 2026.
Washington has confirmed that a fee was paid, although the club has not publicly verified the reported $2.3m.
But whether the final figure lands exactly there or not, Luvanga has already made history. She is the first Tanzanian player to join the NWSL.
And she arrives in America with numbers that explain the huge price tag. At Al-Nassr, Luvanga became one of Africa’s most lethal young forwards, scoring 44 goals in 35 appearances during her three-year period at the club.
She scored 24 goals in just 14 matches in the 2025/26 Saudi Women’s Premier League to finish as the league’s top scorer and claim the Golden Boot.
She also helped Al-Nassr win three successive league titles, the Saudi Women’s Cup, Saudi Women’s Super Cup and the 2026 WAFF Women’s Clubs Championship.
Her finishing power was on full display in the AFC Women’s Champions League in August when she scored a staggering seven goals in Al-Nassr’s 12-0 demolition of CSKA Dushanbe.
She also struck a hat-trick in the Saudi Women’s Super Cup final. The journey to Washington, however, started at Yanga Princess in Tanzania.
Luvanga came through the club’s youth system before crossing into Europe with Spanish side DUX Logroño in 2023.
She made six appearances and scored twice, becoming the first Tanzanian woman to play professionally in Spain.
Al-Nassr then came calling later that year, beginning the three-season spell that transformed her into a continental star.
Her international credentials were already evident. Luvanga scored 10 goals in six appearances for Tanzania U-17 during the 2022 African U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer.
She also represented Tanzania U-20 between 2021 and 2022, scoring twice in six appearances. Her senior debut came in 2024, and she has since emerged as one of Tanzania’s key football exports and a future focal point of the national team.
Now, Washington Spirit is betting on the same scoring instinct, and Sporting Director James Hocken said Luvanga gives the Spirit another attacking dimension because of her ability to score in different ways.
Luvanga is equally eager to get started, saying she is excited by the challenge and wants to contribute immediately as Washington fight for an NWSL playoff place.
For Tanzania, it is another giant step for a player whose journey began at Yanga Princess and for Africa, it could be even bigger.
A reported $2.3m would put Luvanga above Racheal Kundananji’s $860,000 move from Madrid CFF to Bay FC in 2024, Barbra Banda’s $740,000 switch from Shanghai Shengli to Orlando Pride and every other publicly reported African women’s transfer.
Kundananji had become the first African female player to break a world soccer transfer record when she joined Bay FC. Luvanga is now threatening to rewrite that record again since the figure is not yet confirmed.