Nigerian forward and six-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year Asisat Oshoala has joined the United States National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) side Bay FC ending her five years of successful campaign at Barcelona Femeni.
According to reports, Barcelona and Bay FC reached a transfer fee of €150,000 ($162,000) for Oshoala, whose contract with the Catalan club ends at the end of the season.
Oshoala is joining the NWSL, signing with expansion side Bay FC through 2026 with an option for 2027.
The reigning African Women’s Footballer of the Year brings her wealth of goalscoring experience to NWSL.
“To have the opportunity to add a player of Asisat’s quality, experience and winning pedigree to our roster is an exciting and important day for the club and the NWSL,” said Bay FC General Manager Lucy Rushton.
“She brings a top-class mentality to the field combined with pace and technical ability that allows her to lead the line, while also giving those players around her the license to be creative and thrive in space. Asisat is a proven goal scorer at the most elite levels of World football, and she comes here to continue that with Bay FC.”
The 29-year-old forward has been struggling to make the Barcelona starting line-up this season, starting just four matches in 14 appearances for the reigning La Liga champions.
Across five seasons at Barcelona, Oshoala scored 107 goals in 149 appearances, including a record-setting season in 2022, when she was the joint-top scorer in the league with 19 goals.
The two-time Ballon d’Or nominee helped Barcelona Femini win the UEFA Women’s Champions League twice (2020-21, 2022-23), earn four league titles, three Spanish Super Cups and the Copa de la Reina three times.
She became the first African woman to win the UEFA Champions League final in 2021 and the first African woman to score in the Champions League final in 2019.
“I’ve stayed a long time in Europe, it’s the longest I’ve stayed anywhere,” Oshoala told Just Women’s Sports.
“I’ve played in different continents and all that, and I just feel like I would love to try elsewhere maybe one more time, one more chance to see how that feels.”
“The project that this club is trying to build is really on the high side, the challenge is also it’s more or less a risk for me … because of where I’m coming from, the style of football, the environment and everything. It’s a big change, it’s a huge change for me, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take as well.”
“If you don’t leave your comfort zone, sometimes you don’t get to achieve certain things,” she continues. “It’s very important to understand this, and at this point in my career, I won’t think I’m really scared to make big changes.”
