Following rumours that Copper Queens captain Barbra Banda is being sought after by FC Barcelona, her club, Orlando Pride, has rubbished the reports, saying the Olympic record breaker is not for sale.
Banda made history as the first player in Olympic women’s football history to score three hat-tricks, despite the Copper Queens’ unimpressive performance at the 2024 Paris Games, where they were eliminated in the group stage after losing 3-0, 6-5, and 4-1 to the USA, Australia, and Germany, respectively.
She arrived at the competition with six goals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she scored two consecutive hat-tricks. In the eleven-goal thriller against Australia, she added another hat-trick to set the new record.
Banda also became Africa’s all-time female scorer at the Olympics with ten goals in just six matches.
Her strong performance at the competition, however, generated social media rumours in Zambia that Barcelona was interested in signing her from Orlando Pride, the National Women’s Soccer League club where she now leads the scorers chart with 12 goals in 12 games.
Orlando Pride’s response
Haley Carter, Orlando Pride Vice President tells BolaNews in an exclusive interview that Banda is not for sale and no club has approached them.
“Barcelona hasn’t approached us. If they had, it’s correct that she isn’t for sale,” Carter said. “They haven’t even reached out to us.”
Banda joined the Pride from Shanghai Shengli in March this year.
Her move to the club came just a month after her compatriot Racheal Kundananji was signed for a world-record transfer fee of $787,000 by Bay FC from Madrid CFF, with another $80k in potential add-ons..
Banda signed a four-year contract with the NWSL side for a $740,000 transfer fee making her the second-most expensive player in women’s football history.
