K. Martinez Ovando

Claudia Martínez Ovando spent barely two years in Paraguayan club football before Washington Spirit paid roughly $950,000 to sign her from Club Olimpia — a fee split across 2026 and 2027, with Olimpia keeping a sell-on percentage and a record for the Paraguayan women's game. She had only moved to Olimpia from Sportivo Ameliano in January 2024, so the transfer marked a rapid rise from provincial football in Capitán Bado to professional football in the United States.

Her breakthrough came with the national team rather than at club level. Martínez top-scored at the 2025 South American U-17 Championship with ten goals, then carried that form into the senior Copa América Femenina the same year, finishing as joint top scorer with six goals. In that tournament she scored a hat-trick against Bolivia at 17 years and 179 days old, the youngest player in the competition's history to do so.

The individual recognition followed quickly. Martínez became the first Paraguayan footballer nominated for the Women's Kopa Trophy and was also named among the candidates for the Reina de América award.

Listed as comfortable with both feet, she arrives at Washington Spirit still a teenager, most of her club career having been compressed into two seasons in Paraguay before the move to the United States.