Bay FC signs Zambia star Racheal Kundananji from Madrid CFF،
NWSL expansion club Bay FC have completed the signing of Zambian forward Racheal Kundananji from Madrid CFF, the club announced Tuesday, with sources telling ESPN the deal is worth a women's world record 735 €000 ($787,600).
The Equalizer was the first to announce a record fee, which easily surpasses the previous record set by Chelsea last month when they signed Mayra Ramírez from Levante in a deal in the region of €450,000 with further potential of €50,000 bonus.
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Kundananji, 23, signs a contract until 2027 with an option to extend until 2028, from Madrid CFF, where she scored 33 goals in 43 Liga F matches. Previously, she played for Eibar and BIIK Kazygurt from Kazakhstan.
She will make up a much-anticipated attacking line-up at Bay FC, joining less than two weeks after the arrival of Nigerian Asisat Oshoala from Barcelona.
Kundananji is one of the most prolific strikers in women's football and even outplayed Oshoala last season in Spain, scoring 25 to the Super Falcons hero's 21. However, Kundananji has added versatility and often plays on the wing for Zambia to accommodate compatriot Barbra Banda. .
“For me, I can play any position as long as I am given the task of playing that position,” Kundananji told ESPN. “For the national team we have so many attackers and so few strong wingers, that’s why I play on the wing, but I’m a striker.”
Asked if she knew what Bay FC's plan was for her, given that Oshoala is also part of the team, she replied: “Not yet, but I intend to . [find out]. As long as I'm on the team, no problem. I can play any position.”
Big clubs have been circling Kundananji for some time due to his form in Madrid and Zambia, but when the newly formed San Francisco Bay Area expansion team arrived, it was love at first sight .
“I don't know how, I just fell in love with the team, and it was a surprise… There were so many teams that came to me, but for this team it was so different” , Kundananji said.
Ghanaian striker Princess Marfo is another African player for Bay FC, while Malawian Temwa Chawinga (Kansas City Current) and South African Linda Motlhalo (Racing Louisville) have recently joined NWSL clubs.
I don't know about them (the other African players in the NWSL), but for me, I just want to have a new experience and it's my dream to do it in the United States of America,” he said. she declared. “I just fell in love with the team and I would love to score more goals with Bay FC.”
Kundananji revealed that when she first decided to live in the United States, she didn't even realize that it was possible for her to have a career in football.
“I loved soccer growing up. Sometimes I would skip school just to play soccer,” she said. “But for me it wasn't a career. It was just fun because I loved football.
“I realized this was my career, I can say it at the end of 2016 [or] 2017. That's when I realized, because at that time I didn't know there were women's teams and I didn't follow women's football. I followed men's football…I loved training with men, even when I started playing women's football.”
Although Kundananji was initially skeptical about the idea of playing with other women, she began asking questions of her peers who had played in the United States. Soon she realized that while there were few women on the planet capable of stopping her with a ball at her feet, the NWSL would be a real test.
“With what they were telling me, I started thinking, 'I have to go out there and play in the league.' I was told about the league so many times,” recalls Kundananji.
Kundananji will likely join his new team after Zambia's double Olympic qualifier in February against Ghana. Bay FC will begin its first-ever NWSL season against Angel City in a California derby at BMO Stadium on March 16.
Reporting from ESPN's Jeff Carlisle and Shwetha Surendran contributed to this story.
