Grace Geyoro fee not a world record – London City Lionessess chief

London City Lionessess chief executive Martin Semmens has denied the club paid a world-record transfer fee for Paris St Germain midfielder Grace Geyoro.

It had been reported the deal for the 28-year-old was worth £1.43million, beating the £1.1m paid by Orlando Pride to Tigres UANL for Mexico winger Lizbeth Ovalle last month.

However, Semmens said the fee had been over-inflated.

“It is a fantastic signing and a fantastic player but the numbers are not quite right. I suspect those figures are more promoted from the other side,” he told talkSPORT.

“It is a big deal around the £1m mark but not a world record sadly.”

Geyoro, who has won 103 caps and scored 22 goals for France, is the Lionesses’ 16th permanent signing of the summer as they prepare for their maiden season in the top flight.

Among the others to have joined are experienced England forward Nikita Parris, former Manchester United captain Katie Zelem, Barcelona’s Jana Fernandez and Lyon’s Danielle van de Donk.

Manager Jocelyn Precheur, who worked with Geyoro for two years at PSG, said she was “one of the best players on the planet”.

“She has a wonderful career but she is still underestimated,” said Precheur at a press conference ahead of their first match against Arsenal.

“I immediately knew it would be such a good opportunity for the club to have such a good player.

“We have a lot of young and talented players. The signing of a player like her is important for the balance of the squad.

“She is experienced and knows how I want to play. She knows the game perfectly so she will help the team a lot and how we want to play.

“I’m not surprised we had to pay a huge fee to have this sort of player.”