Inside Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s record deal to stay at Man City and its possible butterfly effect
· Yahoo Sports
In the end, everything was settled over a bank holiday weekend.
On Friday, 22 May, Manchester City improved upon its original offer to three-time Golden Boot-winning striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw.
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Late on Sunday night, personal terms were agreed.
On Monday afternoon, just before City’s joint parade to celebrate their senior men’s team’s domestic cup double and their women’s team’s Women’s Super League title, Shaw signed her name on the dotted line on a four-year deal. The salary makes her the highest-paid women’s footballer in the world, according to sources who, like all mentioned in this article, chose to remain anonymous to protect relationships.
Then, she momentarily combusted the world of women’s football, settling a transfer saga that could have dragged well into the summer heat.
The impulse in the days since has been to use words like “U-turn” and “cave”. There is a rationale behind it. In fact, in the days leading up to the parade, there was some doubt from staff and players of whether Shaw would participate in the parade or what her role would be, according to multiple team sources.
No one, other than the players and those immediately involved in negotiations, knew a new deal was in the works at the time.
Then, moments before being welcomed on stage at the Coop Arena next to City’s Etihad Stadium, members of staff were made aware that Shaw had signed a new contract hours earlier and was set to make her announcement imminently. The admission seemed to arrive in slow motion.
Shaw’s future was mentioned, to some confusion from the players and the fans, before she told the crowd: “I’m still here, I’m still hungry and there’s no place I’d rather be.”
Some players were aware of the news ahead of time, but most of the team only found out in that moment. The shock on many teammates’ faces emphasised just how remarkably quickly circumstances changed.
Less than a month prior, Shaw’s future seemed all but destined to continue with another club. In April, news of a £1 million-a-year offer from Chelsea surfaced. By 7 May, the day after City became WSL champions, news swirled that Shaw was set to leave the club after there was a breakdown over those exact negotiations. Even her closest friends on the team were unaware of her next move.
While the pace of the situation radically changed, there was one constant, sources say: director of women’s football Therese Sjogran and managing director Charlotte O’Neill never wanted Shaw to leave Manchester City and never allowed conversations to fully come to a halt.
As Shaw’s impending contract expiration grew closer, Sjogran and O’Neill made their sentiment clear to both Shaw and the club’s board. The women’s leadership group, in conjunction with the board, tried to find ways to keep Shaw at the club she joined in 2021 from Bourdeaux, with whom she has since broken virtually every goalscoring record.
Ultimate approval of any financial package in a new contract resides with the board. Initially, the package being sanctioned was not considered representative of Shaw’s value to the team, according to those closest to Shaw. Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, she also financially supports her family. Any package that could help her continue to support them was considered a significant influence.
Chelsea’s offer of a four-year deal came to represent a benchmark for Shaw’s value. However, City’s board refused to match or improve on the offer, despite appeals from Sjogran and O’Neill, according to multiple sources. While City recognised Shaw’s importance to the team, there were concerns around reshaping the wage structure around one player, as well as the precedent set by doing so.
When WSL Football announced new Financial Sustainability Regulations (FSR) for the upcoming season, they included a flexible squad spending cap and strict minimum wage requirements. Total player wage bills are capped at 80 per cent of a club’s standalone revenue, plus owner cash funding up to the higher of £4 million or 25 per cent of revenue.
News that City were going to allow Shaw to leave incited fierce backlash externally, a response that board members, according to two sources familiar with the matter, did not anticipate.
Shaw is one of City’s most important players and was integral to the team winning their first WSL title in a decade. She tallied 21 goals last season and four assists, earning her a third WSL Golden Boot along with the status as one of the world’s best strikers, if not the best.
Yet, while reports at the start of May declared that negotiations had formally broken down, conversations remained ongoing internally between the women’s leadership group and the wider club leadership, in conjunction with the board, as well as with the player, according to multiple club sources. Sjogran also regularly called Shaw into individual meetings. One source says no numbers were ever discussed.
Multiple sources close to the team also say that members of coaching and non-coaching staff, as well as players, made their desire for Shaw to stay known to decision-makers.
Following City’s title victory, pressure from the outside mounted, particularly from the media. Influential figures, including former City player Steph Houghton and Arsenal legend Ian Wright, spoke out against the potential exit, particularly voicing frustration at her potentially joining a direct rival.
Shaw, too, made her desire to remain at City known privately amongst staff and teammates and eventually publicly, declaring that Manchester was “her home” in a post-match interview with Sky Sports after City’s 4-1 victory against West Ham United on the WSL’s final day of the season.
As noise reached fever pitch in the days leading to the parade, Sjogran and O’Neill gained the necessary support at the board level to formally continue negotiations, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
From there, processes moved swiftly, with all parties encouraged to reach an agreement.
According to multiple sources internally and externally, the prolonged saga has emphasised the importance of clubs placing trust in the decision-makers with knowledge of the women’s game, as well as what is required to remain at the top of a landscape with an ever-rising ceiling. Others wonder what repercussions await the wider women’s game amid Shaw’s deal.
The global women’s football market has evolved at an unprecedented pace, with new record transfer fees and salaries set regularly. Shaw’s deal represents the latest Rubicon. Whether clubs can keep up with the pace or if a competitive tiered system will eventually emerge remains a genuine concern amongst many decision-makers who are already struggling to compete amongst clubs with greater financial means.
For example, when Chelsea were told that City had reopened negotiations and improved their offer, Chelsea, who recently appointed Phil Radley as their women’s team sporting director, refused to go higher than the initial offer of £1m, according to two club sources. The eight-time WSL champions did not engage in a bidding war, according to multiple sources.
Chelsea remain in the market for a striker this summer, but there is no panic over finding the correct profile, according to sources.
U.S. forward Catarina Macario and Australia striker Sam Kerr both departed Chelsea in the past five months. The team’s options at centre-forward, as it stands, include Mayra Ramirez, who has not played all season — bar a handful of minutes in their last game of the season— due to injury, and Aggie Beever-Jones. Academy graduate Beever-Jones is yet to sign a new deal, despite her contract, which has the option to extend for a year, expiring in the summer.
The Athletic reported that Chelsea made an offer for BK Hacken striker Felicia Schroder. Hacken have received multiple enquiries regarding the 19-year-old Sweden international, according to sources familiar with the player’s situation.
For many involved at the top of the women’s game, Shaw’s deal always represented the first domino in a busy summer transfer window.
The butterfly effect remains to be seen.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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