Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw staying tight-lipped on contract after ending Manchester City’s decade-long wait for a league title

Manchester City’s Women's Super League title win should have been a defining moment in their football history. A dominant 2025-26 season, culminating in top honours, their first in a decade, came with promising signs of what comes next.

Instead, the elation fans felt lasted all of an evening. By the following morning, rumours began circulating that Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, the league's deadliest striker, could be on her way out of the club at the end of the season.

The centrepiece of City’s crowning term, the Jamaican international is reportedly eyeing a new challenge when her current contract expires, after delivering on her primary aim of lifting the WSL trophy.

“For me, my focus has always been on winning the league,” she said, speaking at the Women’s Football Awards, where she was crowned Player of the Year. “Finishing the season strong. I’ve been there five years. Every time I go out onto the pitch, I try and do my best.

“We have another game to come [in the league] and Chelsea [in the FA Cup semi-finals] at the weekend.”

It is the Blues in question who are reportedly the favourites to sign Shaw come the summer, prompting what would be one of the biggest moves in the history of the elite English league.

Closing in on her third consecutive Golden Boot award for top scorer, having recorded 19 goals in 21 games so far, it would mark a significant loss for City. Earlier this season she scored the WSL’s fastest hat-trick, netting a trio of goals from first to third in 12 minutes and 37 seconds.

At the end of 2025, Shaw became the first goal-scoring centurion on the blue side of Manchester.

“I approach each game the same, trying to help the team, trying to score or get an early goal,” she told the club website after netting her 100th.

“Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t, but once I got the first, I knew I was going to keep pushing, the girls knew and kept giving me the ball.

“For me, it’s a team, I always credit the team because they’re the ones that go out there with me, battle with me, fight with me, and encourage me. When I’m low, they’re with me and when I’m at my highest, they are as well. I have to credit [them].”

Directly responsible for 10 points through her goalscoring prowess over the course of the campaign, Shaw has played the leading role once more – one City would find exceedingly difficult to recast if she were to leave.

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Jeglertz: There is no limit for this group

Andrée Jeglertz joined esteemed company as City stormed to the title, becoming only the third manager in Women’s Super League history to lift the trophy in their debut season.

He follows Sonia Bompastor, who achieved the same feat last term with Chelsea, and Laura Harvey, who guided Arsenal to the title in 2011.

The talent within City’s squad is undeniable, and has been evident for quite some time, yet they struggled in recent years to strike the right balance. Jeglertz, fresh from coaching Denmark at EURO 2025, found it almost instantly.

Rather than putting too much emphasis on structure and system, the Swedish manager instead focused on the strengths of the players, allowing them to express themselves on the pitch. Bunny Shaw is one of the players to have benfited.

“This season we’ve been playing with a lot more freedom, rather than a [more structured] system,” Shaw explained.

“The most important thing is to have fun. It’s all about enjoying the moment and, when you lose the ball, go and get it again to express yourself again.

“That’s allowed players to go one-v-one, or to shoot from outside of the box. He’s allowed us to be more confident in doing it and we’ve been scoring a lot of goals.”

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