As always, the money will make the headlines. Arsenal had to spend big on Olivia Smith- so big, it turned out, that the fee is a record-breaking one. Rightly, Liverpool were never going to let their star player go for anything less.

Trevor Francis became the first million pound male footballer when he joined Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City in 1979, and won consecutive European Cups, scoring the winner in the first. No pressure then, Olivia Smith, as the women’s game finally breaks the seven-figure mark just the 46 years later.

In truth, Arsenal can afford Smith. Recent free transfers include Chloe Kelly, Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo, not to mention Taylor Hinds and Anneke Borbe. 

Arsenal are champions of Europe, should I have to remind you, and have gone about their transfer business with the swagger of a team that are rightly pushing for more. The club set their sights early on Hinds, Borbe and Smith (Kelly even earlier, of course), and swooped to secure all four by the middle of July.

Smith’s arrival marks a new era in North London, sparked by Arsenal’s Lisbon historics. The sort of player that has been just out of the Gunners’ reach in the last few years, the club just not willing enough to pay the real big bucks for a superstar in her position. 

Arsenal’s options out wide have been good, but not good enough to win the big trophies, and Kelly’s arrival came at the perfect time. Smith’s signing takes Arsenal to a whole new level- finally, depth, and significant, quality depth on the flanks.

How does an Emily Fox-Olivia Smith tandem, or Katie McCabe-Chloe Kelly/Caitlin Foord partnership sound? Not too good, if you’re defending against them, I would suspect.

What does Smith bring? An eye for goal, for one, and a willingness to take on opponents with skill and pace to burn. McCabe discovered that in Arsenal’s FA Cup defeat to Liverpool at Meadow Park last season, where Smith was electric. 

Only one player won more fouls than the 20-year-old in 2024/25, leading to Liverpool to complain to PGMOL about Smith’s lack of protection from officials- how this develops during her Arsenal tenure will be interesting. To put it simply, she’s a very tricky customer for defenders to stop.

Smith joined the Reds from Sporting Lisbon in 2024, having scored 16 goals for the Portuguese side to draw the attention of many big-name admirers. A season in the WSL before her move to Arsenal brings the Gunners a player ready to hit the ground running in North London, on a reported four-year deal. 

So with under two months until the WSL season starts, you’ve got plenty of time to go and watch Olivia Smith compilations on YouTube. Or even just this goal for Sporting Lisbon in February last year. Smith is a Gunner.

#FutFemSCP | Que momento de Olivia Smith ?#SCPVGFC // 1-0 pic.twitter.com/yWDIYAliDV

— Sporting CP Futebol Feminino (@FutFemSCP) February 3, 2024