US star will reportedly be world’s highest-paid women’s playerRodman turned down ‘compelling’ offers to leaveSaga spurred debate around NWSL’s ability to keep talentTrinity Rodman, the US national team forward, has signed a new three-year contract to stay with Washington Spirit and will reportedly be the world’s highest-paid women’s player. The record deal, announced on Thursday, ends months of uncertainty around the 23-year-old’s future. Her previous contract – a $1.1m, four-year deal – expired in December and she was understood to have received lucrative offers from Europe, which the Spirit were unable to initially match under the NWSL’s salary cap rules.Her new deal, which runs through the 2028 season, comes after the NWSL created a new “High Impact Player Rule” that permits clubs to spend up to $1m above the salary cap if the player in question meets any one of a specific list of criteria that demonstrates their star credentials, such as being named in the top 40 of the Guardian’s Top 100 women’s footballers for the past two years or finishing in the top 30 in the Ballon d’Or for the past two years. There was a clear perception across the NWSL that Rodman staying with the league was crucial, following the high-profile departures of several of the league’s biggest names over the past 12 months, including Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson’s moves to Chelsea and – earlier this month – Sam Coffey’s headline-grabbing transfer to Manchester City. “All of us are profoundly grateful that she has chosen to…
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