Chelsea favourites to sign Shaw as Man City exit nears

Chelsea are favourites to sign striker Khadija Shaw on a free transfer as an exit from Manchester City nears this summer.

Talks have stalled over a contract renewal and it will be a significant blow for the club to lose their top scorer.

News of her imminent departure dropped just hours after City were crowned Women's Super League champions for the first time in a decade.

Despite positive negotiations with Shaw at the start of the year and initial confidence from the club that a deal would be agreed, frustrations have grown.

Chelsea, who won six titles in a row before City's recent success, are understood to have made the 29-year-old Jamaica international their priority target in the summer.

City manager Andree Jeglertz said in April he hoped Shaw would extend her contract, which expires in June, but disagreement over the length of a new deal is believed to have been the sticking point.

Chelsea are understood to have offered at least one extra year on a contract than City were willing to sign up to.

Shaw initially had no wish to leave and had hoped to retire at City but the breakdown in negotiations led to her exploring other options.

She has been the club's top goalscorer for the past four seasons and is set to win a third successive WSL Golden Boot after scoring 19 goals in 21 appearances, with one league game remaining.

Manchester City declined to comment when approached by BBC Sport.

Shaw will be in the spotlight this weekend as City hope to add to their WSL crown with an FA Cup trophy.

They travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (15:30 BST) to face Chelsea in the semi-finals, with the winner playing either Liverpool or Brighton at Wembley on 18 May.

But Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor gave no hints as to Shaw's future when asked about it on Thursday.

"I'm seeing reports of big players being linked to Chelsea and that's normal," she said.

"We are ambitious and we want to have a lot of top players in our team. Bunny Shaw is playing for City so it's not for me to comment on."

Asked if Shaw would be on Bompastor's personal wishlist, she added: "Who wouldn't have her on their personal wishlist? Someone crazy maybe!

"But again, I think we need to be respectful, as Bunny is playing for City this season. She is a great player, for sure."

The Blues boss was also "sure" Chelsea will have "an ambitious team" next season and emphasised her confidence in the club to recruit well.

Reports suggest they are ready to pay Shaw up to £1m a year and Bompastor admitted signing a number nine is high on the club's priority list.

"Yeah, if you analyse our season, some of the games we played, especially in the first half of the season, we didn't have Sam Kerr back fully fit to perform with us, Aggie Beever-Jones was struggling with injuries and we didn't have Mayra Ramirez for the full season," she added.

"If you compare that to Manchester City, Arsenal and even Manchester United, and you ask them to play without their number nine or top scorer, I think it would have been completely different for them.

"That is our reality. We know at this level, for Chelsea, it is really important to have a number nine who is performing, playing fully fit and is available."

This would be one of the most intriguing and remarkable transfers in the WSL given Chelsea and City's long-standing rivalry in the competition.

Under former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes and ex-Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor, the two clubs faced lengthy battles in the title race and domestic cups.

Shaw has been a part of that during her five-year spell at City and often been the player her side turn to.

There are only a handful of clubs globally in women's football capable of paying the wages and offering the incentives a player of her calibre should demand.

It means free transfers between star players in the WSL is not a huge surprise, although the timing of this speculation was less than ideal for City.

The morning after their title celebrations began in Manchester, fans were hit with a major blow as news of Shaw's likely departure to Chelsea began to trickle through.

It adds a further level of spice to Sunday's FA Cup semi-final and casts doubts, for the first time this season, that City's ambitions are not what fans believed they are.

Shaw is undoubtedly one of the world's best players and her absence on Ballon d'Or shortlists has in some part been down to City's inconsistency in the Women's Champions League.

Chelsea would offer her a chance to shine on Europe's biggest stage - as a rival to City next season - and despite a blip in 2025-26, they remain one of the WSL's powerhouses.

For Shaw, it will be a sad situation. It is understood she had hoped to end her career at the club and sign a lengthy contract in order to do so.

There is frustration at the club's apparent lack of willingness to agree to a long deal, particularly as men's top-scorer Erling Haaland was given a 10-year deal in 2025.

For neutral women's football fans, Shaw's switch could signal a major shift in the balance of the WSL title race next season, and perhaps thrust Chelsea back into top spot - and lift their hopes of winning an elusive first Women's Champions League.

Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie are back for another season of the Women's Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed