Denver Summit FC has agreed to a transfer with Mexico’s Pachuca for defender Ayo Oke for what would be the highest incoming transfer fee for an American player in NWSL history, sources told ESPN.
Denver, which begins play as a 2026 expansion team in a few months, will pay Liga MX club Pachuca a transfer fee close to $450,000 for Oke, a source confirmed. That figure would also make Oke among the most expensive known incoming transfer fees in NWSL history, although transfer fees are not always publicly confirmed by clubs.
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.
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.
Oke will join a Denver expansion roster that is still a work in progress. Among those currently signed and announced players are former NWSL champions Kaleigh Kurtz, Ally Watt and Carson Pickett.
Denver’s fee for Oke also represents the continued rapid development of the women’s soccer transfer market, which is growing for younger players alongside established veterans.
The record for an incoming NWSL transfer was set in August when the Orlando Pride paid $1.5 million to Tigres for Jacqui Ovalle, which set a world record at the time. That nearly doubled the world record that was set by Bay FC when the team acquired forward Racheal Kundananji in early 2024. Orlando paid a fee of $740,000 for forward Barbra Banda in early 2024.
In 2024, the Houston Dash acquired Brazilian defender Tarciane from Corinthians for a reported fee of around $485,000, according to Brazilian reports at the time. Tarciane was transferred to Lyons the next year for roughly double that fee.
