Venezuelan soccer star Deyna Castellanos has become the highest-paid foreign player in NWSL history. The former Manchester City player has secured a groundbreaking contract through 2026 with an option for the 2027 season with Bay FC.
The skilled forward began her professional career with Atlético Madrid, helping the team to the Supercopa de Espana Femenina during the 2020-21 season. She joined Manchester City ahead of the 2022 season on a three-year deal.
Her new contract with the Bay area team will be through 2026, with an option for the 2027 season. A source told ESPN it’s estimated to be worth more than $1.8 million over four years.
Co-founded by U.S. Women’s National Team legends, Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton, and Leslie Osborne, in partnership with global investment firm Sixth Street, Bay FC is set to debut in the 2024 NWSL season. The club announced in September that Washington Spirit interim manager Albertin Montoya is the coach.
“I think the project is something that is really amazing,” Castellanos said. “To be part of the first group of girls that is gonna try to accomplish all the goals that we have is something very special,” she continued.
It’ll be a new life for the 24-year-old Maracay native, who has been living in England, and she is excited. “I can’t wait to be there in the [San Francisco] Bay Area,” she told the outlet. “With the team and with obviously the coaching staff, that’s something that I’m very looking forward to.”
The change does come with some bittersweetness as she says goodbye to old friends, “I leave with a little bit of sadness because [of] all the friends that I made here, but besides that, I think it is an exciting time for me to go back to America, to play for a new club and I’m just happy,” she said.
Castellanos also hopes to continue growing, learning, winning trophies, and helping change the perception of women’s soccer in the United States.
Bay FC travel to BMO Stadium to play Angel City for its opening game on March 16.