After firing Man City to title – is Shaw best striker in WSL history?

After firing Man City to title – is Shaw best striker in WSL history?Khadija Shaw joined Manchester City from French side Bordeaux in 2021

While Manchester City's Women's Super League title triumph was clearly a team effort, it's unlikely it would have been possible without Khadija Shaw.

The Jamaica striker scored 21 goals in 22 games as City secured the title for the first time in a decade, and could still help them clinch a double when they meet Brighton in the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley later this month.

With a third successive WSL Golden Boot in the bag and the WSL goals record on the horizon, Shaw has to be considered one of the division's greatest ever strikers.

But how does the 29-year-old compare to other WSL goalscoring greats? BBC Sport crunches the numbers.

Firing City to a first WSL title in a decade is the tip of the iceberg where Shaw's achievements this season are concerned.

Two strikes in a 4-1 final day win against West Ham ensured she became the first player in WSL history to score 20 or more goals in three different campaigns.

Her double against the Hammers took her to 100 goal contributions in the WSL – 82 goals and 18 assists – in 93 appearances, the second quickest a player has reached that milestone.

A record-breaking third WSL Golden Boot – her third in a row, no less – was practically assured months ago, while a 13-minute hat-trick against Tottenham in March took her treble tally to six, more than any other player in WSL history.

A four-goal masterclass against Aston Villa in December saw the Jamaican become the first player to reach a century of goals for City.

Shaw took her total of headed goals in the WSL to 31, the most of any player in WSL history and four more than closest challenger Bethany England.

After being named the Football Writers' Association women's footballer of the year for a record-equalling second time last week, on Monday Shaw became the first player to win the WSL's player of the season prize more than once.

City's player of the season is favourite to win the PFA player of the year award for a second time.

Shaw wasn't quite able to topple the single season goals record of 22, set by current City team-mate Vivianne Miedema at Arsenal in 2018-19 and equalled by Aston Villa's Rachel Daly in 2023-24.

Some of the best attackers in the world have made the WSL their home, so Shaw is certainly no shoe-in as the best.

City team-mate Miedema holds a host of records to go with the single-season goals tally.

The former Arsenal striker is the WSL's all-time leading scorer with 97, with Bethany England (89) second in the rankings and Shaw third (83).

The former Arsenal striker holds the record for the most goals scored in a single match (six), the most goal involvements in a single game (10), the most assists in a single match (four), and the most hat-tricks in one season (three).

Australia's Sam Kerr, who will leave Chelsea this summer after six years in west London, is up there too.

Kerr's 65 WSL goals helped Chelsea win five consecutive titles between 2019 and 2024, while earlier this season she became the club's all-time top scorer in the WSL.

No player in WSL history has a better non-penalty shot conversion rate than Kerr (21.5%), having scored 65 goals from 303 non-penalty shots, while Shaw ranks joint-fourth with 19.7%.

Arsenal and England striker Alessia Russo is in the mix too, though her tendency to drop deep and help build attacks means she is less of an out-and-out number nine.

That said, only Shaw (83) has scored more goals since the start of the 2021-22 season than Russo (56), while the 27-year-old is arguably the most tactically and positionally versatile striker in the division.

Shaw leads when it comes to the best goals per 90 minutes ratio in WSL history (1.08) and non-penalty goals per 90 minutes (1.04). No other player is above the one goal per game threshold.

Shaw needs 15 more goals to become the WSL's all-time outright leading scorer, though Miedema could still add to her tally.

The stats suggest Shaw is on course to overtake her team-mate – Shaw scored 80 goals in her first 90 WSL games, six more than Miedema, whereas the Dutchwoman reached 80 WSL goals in 106 appearances.

Shaw scored 21 goals in 22 WSL appearances this season

Could 2026 be the year that Shaw finally has a proper crack at, or even wins, the Ballon d'Or?

A 15th-place finish in the 2024 rankings is the closest she has come to being named the best player on the planet.

Though she won the WSL Golden Boot with 21 goals in 18 games in 2023-24, City's absence from the Women's Champions League likely didn't help her cause. That could count against her again this time round.

Last season Shaw did not make the list of 30 nominations after scoring 12 times in 14 games.

No player in Europe's top four leagues scored more than Shaw this season.

Barcelona duo Claudia Pina and Ewa Pajor have notched 20 and 16 goals respectively – albeit with two games left to play – while in the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen's Larissa Muhlhaus won the Golden Boot with 17.

In France, Paris St-Germain forward Romee Leuchter led the way with 18.

Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati has won the past three Ballon d'Ors, with her team-mate Alexia Putellas claiming the prize in 2021 and 2022.

Lyon forward Ada Hegerberg's win in 2018 was the last time a striker won the award.

Shaw has finished four of her five seasons at City as the club's top scorer, but her days in sky blue could be numbered.

Contract renewal discussions broke down with her current deal set to run out in June, and WSL rivals Chelsea are favourites to sign Shaw on a free deal in the summer, having announced Kerr's departure.

During City's title-winning homecoming celebrations at Manchester's Albert Hall on Sunday, fans chanted "we want Bunny to stay".

Shaw was not present to receive her WSL player of the season award at a ceremony in London on Monday.

"I have always said Manchester is my home and this is a place where I want to be, but at the end of the day there's a lot of things which go on behind the scenes which I won't talk about now," Shaw told Sky Sports.

"Manchester is where I would want to be, but ultimately we will see."

Should Shaw leave, then the issue of how City replace her will dominate the summer.

"Very, very few players can do what Shaw does with her feet and her head," said former City defender Jen Beattie on BBC Women's Football Weekly.

"If you look in world football there are not many strikers of her profile and that are proven in the WSL who can score that many goals year on year," said former City and England striker Ellen White.

"Who are you bringing in if you're letting Shaw go? What is your ambition as a club? Do you want to continue to win titles?

"I'm baffled how City have let this go on for so long and not nailed down her contract."

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

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