There will be ‘no playing’ for Man City in WSL this season, says Shaw
Two-time Golden Boot winner Khadija Shaw says that Manchester City are "100% serious" about challenging for the Women's Super League title.
Khadija Shaw has vowed that Manchester City are "100% serious" about challenging for the Women's Super League title after last season’s disappointing fourth-place finish.
City suffered from injuries and inconsistency in 2024-25, finishing 17 points behind WSL winners Chelsea, recording their worst points-per-game ratio since their first campaign in the competition a decade ago.
They also missed out on the Champions League, while manager Gareth Taylor was dismissed midway through the campaign.
And Shaw, a two-time WSL Golden Boot winner, has promised that City will bounce back in 2025-26.
“We left games last season knowing results slipped through our fingers,” Shaw told Sky Sports.
“We suffered from injuries but I’m not one to make excuses. We weren’t good enough.”
Shaw was among those who spent a prolonged period of time on the treatment table, managing only 892 minutes of league football last season.
Despite that, she managed to finish the campaign as the league's joint top goalscorer with Arsenal’s Alessia Russo on 12 goals, who played double the amount of minutes.
“This season we’re not about that, it’s strictly business,” Shaw said. “Last year was humbling, we are 100% serious about what we want. Ain’t no playing now.”
City begin the campaign with a new face in the dugout, with Andree Jeglertz coming in as manager, bringing with him a more direct style of play.
“With Andre, it’s about how we can put ourselves in the best position going forward. If that means it takes two passes to goal, we have to do that,” added Shaw.
“Andree wants us to win and will give freedom, whatever that looks like, and I think attacking players flourish that way.
“If we can get it right on the pitch, we can be deadly, we can be unstoppable if we focus on the fine details the manager wants. For sure, you are going to see goals.”
Opta’s supercomputer predicts City to finish ahead of reigning European champions Arsenal, though still behind Chelsea.
Shaw’s record of a goal every 74 minutes was the best return of any forward across the top domestic leagues in Spain, France and Germany last year, and she will be vital to helping City improve and challenge this season.
City kick off their Women's Super League campaign away to defending champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Friday.
