Pay Bunny her money! Man City making a huge mistake letting Khadija Shaw leave as Chelsea close in on WSL's top scorer

This is not like City. In recent years, the club has been very proactive when it comes to renewals, with Shaw earning one at the end of the 2022-23 season, just two years after her arrival from Bordeaux. The following year, City renewed four more key starters - Khiara Keating, Yui Hasegawa, Leila Ouahabi and Lauren Hemp - as well as the contract of then-head coach Gareth Taylor. Kerstin Casparij signed a renewal last season and, this term, all of Hasegawa, Mary Fowler, Alex Greenwood and Rebecca Knaak, amongst others, have agreed new deals.

Sure, there have been a few notable departures on free transfers in that time, with that of Laia Aleixandri, who returned to childhood club Barcelona this season, perhaps the biggest blow. But after the summer of 2023 seemed to raise alarm, when Georgia Stanway, Caroline Weir and Lucy Bronze all left upon the expiration of their respective deals, City have generally been proactive when it comes to contracts.

Why, then, has Shaw's situation reached this point? It's quite incredible, especially given all the reporting suggests that the Jamaica international has been keen to stay in Manchester. That is no surprise, either, as the 29-year-old has developed into a truly world-class player since arriving at City back in 2021, with her clearly very settled on and off the pitch.

Former head coach Taylor worked to maximise Shaw's talents, overseeing a period in which she scored 62 goals in 71 WSL outings, and new boss Andree Jeglertz has altered the set-up masterfully this season to create his own version of productive circumstances for the striker. Allowing Miedema to roam freely behind Shaw has led to the pair forming quite the partnership, which has been effective for both players' individual numbers and the overall success of the team.

Shaw isn't just a goal machine, either. The work she does to create for others is underrated, with her four assists this term only three off the league-leading tally, while her 27 key passes rank joint-eighth in the division. The latter number puts her ahead of players such as Fran Kirby and Olivia Smith, for example.

Then there is her defensive work. Only four players in City's squad - the first-choice back four - have produced more clearances than Shaw this season, with her so often on hand in her own box to head away set-pieces. How the forward leads from the front with her pressing, too, is so valuable, leading to team-mate Sam Coffey describing her as "one of the best pressing nines in this league and the world" earlier in the season.

All of it makes Shaw one of the very best centre-forwards in the women's game, if not the best. Indeed, after she scored the quickest hat-trick in WSL history against Tottenham back in March, Spurs boss Martin Ho didn't hesitate to call her "the best forward in the world by a mile".

It's what makes it so surprising that City have not made it an absolute must to tie her down to a new deal, at a club at which she wants to stay. The Guardian report cited the length of the new contract as the main 'stumbling block' in negotiations, without specifics on what was preferred on each side.

Regardless, the lack of an greement means City will now lose a truly world-class footballer who will be almost impossible to replace. Players like Shaw, and certainly strikers like Shaw, do not come along every day. Across Europe's top five leagues, no one has scored more goals than the 29-year-old since her move to City in 2021. That's the kind of player you keep around, no matter what.

Chelsea, City's opponents in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final, and the team most heavily linked with a move for Shaw, know the value of such a top striker.

For years, Sam Kerr has been theirs, with no player scoring more goals in the WSL for the Blues. The Australia international has been the woman for the big occasion again and again during Chelsea's domestic dominance, previously citing Wembley as her favourite stadium because, having scored five goals in four visits, she's "never been there and not won a trophy".

This season, though, with Kerr's minutes limited at times due to her return from an ACL injury, Chelsea have lacked that reliable presence up top. Catarina Macario had her setbacks before leaving for the San Diego Wave in March, Aggie Beever-Jones has been dealing with an ankle issue and Mayra Ramirez has missed the entire campaign after hamstring surgery. Chelsea just have not had a consistent No.9. It's a big reason why their WSL title defence was so underwhelming.

Of course, the Blues still have match-winners. Lauren James was that in the League Cup final in March and she'll hope to play a similar role this weekend as City come to town. But she and Alyssa Thompson are among those who have had to adapt to a central role this season, to varying degrees of success, to make up for the regular lack of a striker at head coach Sonia Bompastor's disposal.

That Chelsea are in for Shaw, then, makes sense. That many other clubs across Europe and the United States are looking at City's star forward also makes sense. For the newly-crowned champions to let her leave does not.

Having just become the team to end Chelsea's run of six successive WSL titles, this summer should be an exciting one for City, one in which they build on strong foundations with an eye on their own spell of success. But to lose one of the monumental and almost irreplaceable pillars of that triumph, and likely to a domestic rival, raises serious questions about City's ability to really kick on from here.