Khadija Shaw expected to leave Manchester City after contract talks stall

Manchester City’s first Women’s Super League title in 10 years may not be enough to keep Khadija Shaw, with the Jamaica forward likely to leave this summer after talks over a new contract stalled. Shaw’s current deal runs until June 30, 2026, but the club and the league’s leading scorer have not agreed fresh terms.

The timing makes the situation more striking. Shaw has been central to City’s championship push, scoring 19 goals in 21 WSL matches this season as Manchester City clinched the 2025/26 crown. For a team that has just regained the league’s top spot after a decade, the possibility of losing its most productive striker shows how fragile success can be in the women’s game when contract negotiations, ambition and squad planning move in different directions.

Shaw joined Manchester City from Bordeaux in the summer of 2021 and signed a two-year extension on May 30, 2023, keeping her at the Academy Stadium through the summer of 2026. City described her at the time as delighted to continue her journey and noted that Manchester “feels like home away from home.” Her spell has justified that faith. In 2022/23, she scored 31 goals in 30 games across all competitions, and this season she has again been the decisive figure in front of goal.

The scale of the interest around her also underlines the economics now shaping elite women’s football. Chelsea have been linked with a move and one report said they have put forward a contract offer worth at least £1 million per year. Whether that figure becomes the benchmark or simply a sign of how aggressively top clubs are now competing for proven forwards, it points to a market in which even title winners can struggle to retain star power.

If Shaw does depart, it would be more than a transfer headline for Manchester City. It would be a reminder that trophies do not always guarantee stability, and that even a newly crowned champion can be pulled apart by contract terms, financial leverage and the next step in a player’s career. For City, losing Shaw would end one of the most productive scoring runs in the club’s recent history. For the WSL, it would be another sign that the balance of power is still being written.