Meet the world’s most expensive female footballer

The pressure is on and Racheal Kundananji is not denying it. The Zambia forward became the most expensive female player ever last month when she joined Bay FC from Madrid CFF for $788,000 (£620,000) and she is only 23 years old. It is a lot to take in.

“There is so much pressure on me [as a result of the world-record transfer fee] but I just have to calm down, focus on my work, and continue playing football,” the striker tells the Guardian from Ndola.

“This is not the end. It’s just the beginning. The expectations of the fans will be so high and opponents are not going to be so friendly to me. That’s why there is so much pressure now.”

The road to the top has not always been straightforward for the former 800m and 1500m middle-distance runner but she has picked up knowledge and experience at every corner. The second of five children, Kundananji was raised by a mother she describes as tough.

“I started playing football in the streets with the young boys, particularly after school,” she says. “There was a guy with Mufulira Blackpool [a club in Zambia’s Copperbelt region, where she – as well as Bwalya Kalusha, the male 1988 African footballer of the year – comes from] that started some teams and I used to play in one of them.

“Every time I play football, I enjoy it. Football is part of my life. I can play from morning to evening. We would make a ball out of plastic [bags] and just play … I grew up in a tough family. My mum didn’t give us that room to misbehave. It was only when I was a lot older that she knew I was spending so much time playing football. When I was younger she just thought I was having fun with my friends and she didn’t know what we were doing … She finally found out when I started playing at a small pitch next to our house. And she was happy with it as I was not getting into any trouble.”

Kundananji’s club career ascent began in 2018 with the Ndola-based Indeni Roses, who signed her after seeing her play for Konkola Blades in Chililabombwe, her hometown. In 2019 she took a huge step into the unknown by signing for the Kazakhstani side BIIK Kazygurt, who were playing in the Champions League at the time.

“Being from Africa, you see an opportunity [to move out of the continent],” she says. “It might not make sense when you begin the journey but you have to start from somewhere. I saw that they were in the Champions League, which was my dream to play in, so when I saw the opportunity I had to grab it.”

Playing in Europe’s top competition did not make life in Kazakhstan any easier, though, as she was one of only a few African players in the country. “I lived in Shymkent, a small city, for three years. I can say that it was not that friendly for people like us. Black people are not common there. When they see black people on the street it’s very different there to how it is in other European cities and countries.”

For her, the unpleasant treatment did not distract her from the challenge of establishing her European club career. “A soldier is always a soldier. A soldier will always survive in any situation,” she says with a smile. “When you know what you want, you have to learn to cope with things. I wanted to go to a bigger league so I just had to endure everything and use this small opportunity [to create a chance for myself]. To get good things, you have to face a lot of challenges.”