{"id":888132,"date":"2026-05-11T06:57:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T06:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/888132\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T06:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T06:57:21","slug":"khadija-shaw-is-womens-football-most-coveted-player-her-womens-fa-cup-display-showed-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/888132\/","title":{"rendered":"Khadija Shaw is women\u2019s football most coveted player. Her Women\u2019s FA Cup display showed why"},"content":{"rendered":"

With her back to goal, Khadija \u2018Bunny\u2019 Shaw chests the ball, swivels and arrows it into the bottom corner beyond the reach of Chelsea\u2019s Hannah Hampton. The Manchester City taliswoman then twirls her arm before knee sliding in front of the travelling fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust myself and I know what I can do in and around the box,\u201d she told TNT Sports after City\u2019s 3-2 (aet) FA Cup semi-final triumph.<\/p>\n

It is an unshakeable self-belief befitting of a world-class athlete. Not even, in her words via TNT, \u201ca mad week\u201d with \u201clots of ups and downs\u201d can sway her confidence. On Wednesday, City were crowned Women\u2019s Super League (WSL) champions. The next day, The Guardian reported the 29-year-old was set to leave her club of four years.<\/p>\n

In April, The Athletic reported<\/a> Chelsea have made Shaw a contract offer worth at least \u00a31million ($1.36m) per year and, according to sources briefed on the matter who wished to remain anonymous to protect relations, negotiations with City have broken down over contract length.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Shaw showed why she is the most valued player in the women\u2019s football market and the type Chelsea, who have significantly underperformed in front of goal, have needed.<\/p>\n

On the halfway line at Stamford Bridge, Shaw lined up alongside opposite number Sam Kerr, whom she could replace in the summer. The Athletic reported in March<\/a> the Australia international is expected to leave. But it was Kerr who was the livelier of the two at first, having two goals disallowed either side of doubling Chelsea\u2019s lead in the 59th minute when she capitalised on Khiara Keating\u2019s fumble.<\/p>\n

Shaw had chances, too, but it was not quite clicking as she skied shots over the bar. A knock to her neck could have signalled it was not going to be her day. But the Jamaica international kept probing in dangerous areas. She had the most touches (15) in the opposition box and took the most shots (10).<\/p>\n

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With City trailing 2-1 and six minutes of stoppage time remaining, eventually it paid off. Her inner belief stayed resolute as she found the equaliser with a swivel, sending the tie to extra time.<\/p>\n

Once again, the two-time WSL golden boot winner, soon to win the award for the third time, found herself in a goalscoring position but sliced her shot wide. At the next opportunity, she told herself to just put it in the back of the net. Thanks to Yui Hasegawa\u2019s alertness to intercept Hampton\u2019s goal kick, Shaw pounced and headed home, taking her team one step closer to Wembley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is what we need the forward to do,\u201d said City manager Andree Jeglertz. \u201cTo be the one that is creating chances, miss one, then move on and continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since her arrival in the WSL in 2021, no player has had a higher expected goals (xG) value (a measurement of the quality chances created) per 90 minutes (0.83), or goals per 90 minutes (1.07) than Shaw. Producing such high figures consistently, as shown by the graph below, is quite remarkable and points to her ability to sniff out chances.<\/p>\n

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She is clinical in front of goal, although her efficiency has dropped this WSL campaign with her goals tracking her expected goals total. Since the start of the 2021-22 season though, she has outperformed her xG by an average of 0.24 per game \u2014 only Kerr (0.25) and Chelsea team-mate Lauren James (0.27) have recorded higher figures over the same period.<\/p>\n

It is not just her goalscoring threat that makes Shaw a much sought-after player but, as shown against Chelsea, her superior hold-up play, linking passes with team-mates to progress the ball, aggressiveness in the press, as well as defensive clearances, make her a complete striker. At 29, and in peak form, her next club could be her last. \u201cBunny Shaw, we\u2019ll see you next year,\u201d sang the Chelsea fans.<\/p>\n

That may be premature with no final decision made, according to sources briefed on the matter, but Jeglertz seemed confident in City\u2019s hierarchy ability to give him the arsenal he needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we are in July, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said post-match. \u201cThat\u2019s not up to me. But I\u2019m pretty sure no matter which player is in my squad in July, the club will definitely give me possibilities to win the title again. Who that is, we\u2019ll see later on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chelsea have struggled for a fit and available centre forward all season, with injuries to Mayra Ramirez and Aggie Beever-Jones, while Kerr, up until recently, has lacked gametime under Sonia Bompastor. \u201cWho wouldn\u2019t have her (Shaw) on a personal wish list?\u201d said Bompastor on Friday.<\/p>\n

Although Shaw, should she move to west London, will not solve all of Chelsea\u2019s problems, she dealt them a killer blow, demonstrating a ruthless instinct they have lacked all season and exactly why Chelsea are keen to obtain her signature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With her back to goal, Khadija \u2018Bunny\u2019 Shaw chests the ball, swivels and arrows it into the bottom…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":888133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[14622,7,6,15,24650],"class_list":["post-888132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-draft","tag-fa-cup","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-womens-soccer"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116554646490843963","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}