Washington Spirit have signed Alimata Bélem, but they will have to wait until January to see her in their colours.
The American club have paid Eibar a transfer fee and handed the Burkina Faso international a contract until 2029. Bélem will remain on loan at the Basque club until 31 December before joining the Spirit for their 2027 pre-season.
She will become the first player from her country to join an NWSL club.
The move is not based solely on her age or what she might still become.
Bélem has just completed her first season in Liga F. She made 29 appearances and started every one of them. Her 2,582 minutes were more than any other Eibar player managed.
She reached the top flight and immediately became indispensable.
Her journey began long before she left Burkina Faso. Bélem made her senior international debut in 2019, when she was only 15. Three years later, at 17, she was part of the team that contested the first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in the country’s history.
Spain was her next destination.
DUX Logroño announced her arrival in February 2023. Bélem was 18, had never played outside her country and was joining a Primera Federación side. Able to operate in central defence or midfield, she initially signed until June 2025.
She became a regular in Logroño. During her final season, she played 2,274 of a possible 2,340 minutes and helped the club win promotion to Liga F. Eibar signed her in July 2025 on a contract running until 2027.
She needed no time to prove that she could compete in the top division.
Bélem established herself in the team, provided an option in both defence and midfield and missed only one of Eibar’s 30 league matches. Washington have not waited for her contract to expire or for her to become available on a free transfer. They have chosen to pay for her after only one season in Spain’s top flight.
Eibar receive a transfer fee while keeping the player for the first half of the new campaign. The Spirit secure until 2029 a 21-year-old who already has international experience, a promotion and a full Liga F season behind her.
Before travelling to the United States, Bélem has another major competition ahead of her.
Burkina Faso return to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations four years after their first appearance. They begin on 27 July against Ivory Coast before facing Tanzania and South Africa. Reaching the quarter-finals would take them beyond the group stage for the first time and keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
The player who arrived in Logroño at 18 with no experience of European football now enters the tournament as one of the established members of her national team.
She will then return to Eibar to complete the final months of a spell that has transformed her career.
In January, Washington will be the next step.