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Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw is Manchester City’s most prolific goalscorer and has been instrumental in their Women’s Super League title this season, their first in a decade.
Despite winning the Golden Boot, Women’s Super League Player of the Season and the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year accolade, there has been growing speculation over whether Shaw could leave the champions this summer.
Since the Guardian reported earlier this month that Shaw was expected to leave Manchester, the 29-year-old’s future has been the topic of much debate - with Chelsea emerging as a potential new home for the super striker.
Will Bunny Shaw leave Manchester City?
When the news broke earlier this month, eyebrows were raised.
Just as City had reclaimed the WSL title from Chelsea, for the first time in 10 years, they looked set to lose their most important player.
Days after the reports surfaced, Chelsea hosted Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final. Chelsea led 2-0 with four minutes of normal time remaining before City struck twice in quick succession to force extra time.
Naturally, it was Shaw who delivered the equaliser before scoring the winner in extra time to send City to Wembley and keep their hopes of a domestic double alive.
Was that Shaw’s message to City that she should stay?
The Jamaica international scored 21 goals in 22 league appearances this season and 26 across all competitions.
She also claimed a third successive Golden Boot and recorded the fastest hat-trick in WSL history, scoring three times in just 12 minutes and 37 seconds.
'Manchester is my home'
Shaw has been open in her desire to stay in Manchester. Speaking to Sky Sports at the FWA Footballer of the Year award, where she picked up the award for a second time in three years, she was asked if she would like to stay at Manchester City.
Shaw said: "Yeah, I've always said that Manchester is my home.
"They've welcomed me from the beginning and now we are at a stage that we are reaching our objective and winning trophies, we have a big final to come and we will see what happens after that."
Initial reports suggested City were unable to match the terms being offered elsewhere, with Chelsea reportedly prepared to pay Shaw around £1 million per year. To put that into perspective, that figure equates to roughly two weeks of Manchester City men’s striker Erling Haaland’s wages.
With an FA Cup final still to play, City's immediate focus will remain on silverware, but uncertainty over Shaw's future continue to linger.
