Editing Ashley Moriarty (section)

=== 2021 Bidding War ===
Despite great success with PSG, and the club showing great interest in keeping her, Moriarty announced her intention to leave the French capital after the 2020-21 season. Although Paris set a record-breaking $1 million price tag on Moriarty—four times the women's soccer transfer record, which was £250,000 at the time—, a number of teams quickly jumped in to attempt to sign Moriarty. Most notably, her former club Lyon made a record transfer bid of $1.5 million, which was broken two days later by Barcelona, with a $1.75 million offer. Real Madrid then stepped in with a $3 million offer, hoping to quickly secure the transfer with a near-double bid. Both Barcelona and Lyon responded within a few days, with $4 and $4.5 million offers respectively. Real Madrid once more attempted to end things with a massive bid, offering PSG $6 million. This bid was once again beaten by both other teams. Barcelona offered $7.5 million, and, a few days later, Lyon offered $8 million, which they declared to be their final offer. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona responded to Lyon's withdrawal with even larger offers, bidding $10 and $11 million respectively.

The bidding war became a major focus in the media, as the transfer record in women's soccer was being broken several times over with each new bid. It was especially amplified by Barcelona and Real Madrid's rivalry: Moriarty's presence on either team would make them strong contenders for the league title and champions league. Real Madrid's keen interest was drawn to the fact Barcelona had long been above Madrid in the Liga F. Most of the media leaned towards Moriarty going to Real Madrid, pushing a rivalry between Moriarty and Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas, widely considered to be the two best female players in the world, and closely resembling the Messi–Ronaldo rivalry in the men's game. Although some, including Moriarty and Putellas themselves, condemned the media's rumors as "false and deceitful," the large spotlight on the women's game was generally seen as a positive influence. It also further propelled Moriarty to mainstream stardom, especially back home in Valoria, where then-prime minister Mark Newman even hinted at conferring upon her the Order of the Osprey, Valoria's highest state honor.

The bidding war continued to escalate until Barcelona pulled out after a final offer of $17.5 million, unwilling to outbid Real Madrid's subsequent $20 million offer. PSG allowed Real Madrid to negotiate with Moriarty, who ended up signing a three-year contract reportedly worth around $33 million (with a $3 million yearly salary and $4 million sign-on bonus). The $20 million transfer fee broke the record for highest transfer fee in women's soccer eighty-fold, and Moriarty's contract made her the highest-paid female soccer player in history.