"Oke has been with the USWNT's U23 team in recent training camps. The 22-year-old Georgia native played in college for Cal and UCLA before signing her first professional contract in January of 2025 with Pachuca. Pachuca won the 2025 Clausura playoff title in Oke's first campaign at the club. Pachuca finished second in the 2025 Liga MX Apertura regular season, level on points with eventual playoff champions Tigres, who owned the tiebreaker."
"There have been other more expensive intra-league transfers of Americans in recent months, including the $1.25 million more for USWNT playmaker Jaedyn Shaw from the North Carolina Courage to Gotham FC in September. Denver's willingness to go get Oke, a U.S. youth international, from abroad is notable as the NWSL fights to change its salary rules to attract and retain top players, including Americans."
Denver Summit FC agreed to pay Pachuca about $450,000 to acquire defender Ayo Oke, which would be the highest incoming transfer fee for an American player in NWSL history. The 22-year-old U.S. youth international and Georgia native played collegiately at Cal and UCLA and signed her first professional contract with Pachuca in January 2025. Pachuca won the 2025 Clausura and finished second in the 2025 Apertura regular season. Denver begins play as an NWSL expansion team in 2026 and has already signed Kaleigh Kurtz, Ally Watt and Carson Pickett. The transfer reflects rapid growth in the women's soccer transfer market.
Read at ESPN.com
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