20-year-old Canadian women's soccer player draws world-record deal

Canadian soccer player Olivia Smith became a part of history on Wednesday afternoon.

The 20-year-old phenom, who last played for Liverpool, is set to join Arsenal in a world-record breaking deal that will see Arsenal pay £1 million (C$1.8 million) to attain her services, as reported by Megan Feringa of The Athletic. Last July, she joined Liverpool from Sporting Lisbon in a deal worth £212,000 (C$3.89 million).

Smith was born in North York, Ont. and spent her youth years playing soccer in the Toronto area before joining Penn State University in 2022. She returned home to Canada to pursue a professional career after just one college season and wound up heading overseas in 2023.

The young Canadian superstar is coming off an impressive season in which she was Liverpool Women’s top scorer with seven goals.

Smith has represented Canada in the past and gained plenty of attention throughout the entire nation when she became the youngest player to ever suit up for the Canada women’s national soccer team in 2019 at just 15 years old. She has since played in the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup, as well as the Paris 2024 Olympics, and, to little surprise, was named the 2024 Canada Soccer Young Player of the Year.

While landing this mega-deal with Arsenal is a fantastic achievement for Smith, it pales in comparison to what she will have done by the time her career is all said and done one day.

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