Manchester City’s chances of making the Women’s Champions League have taken a serious knock due to an admin failure.
The Women’s Super League side won’t have top scorer Khadija Shaw for their qualifier against Paris FC due to a lack of a visa, it’s reported.
Shaw will have to stay in England for the key clashGetty
Jamaica striker Shaw was the WSL’s Golden Boot winner last season with 21 goals, but will be missing for the clash in Paris on Wednesday evening, the first match of a two-legged tie.
The second round qualifying tie is the final hurdle before the competition properly begins with the group stage, and it’s a level City have failed to reach for the past three seasons.
Shaw’s participation could well have been the difference, but the 27-year-old has not even travelled for the game.
The Guardian claims that City sent Shaw to the French embassy on Tuesday morning in a last-ditch effort to claim a visa, but their application was refused.
City deny that claim, and say they don’t expect any further issues for Shaw, who will be available for the return leg back in England.
City finished runners-up in the WSL last season in brutal fashion with Chelsea edging them on goal difference after they ended up level on 55 points.
Much of the Manchester side’s success was down to Shaw, whose 21 goals were eight more than any other player.
Unsurprisingly, that figure earned her the WSL Player of the Season Award, as well as the Professional Footballers’ Association and Football Writers’ Association gongs.
Shaw will be a huge loss for City, despite them signing free-scoring Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema from Arsenal in the summer.
Miedema scored a massive 80 goals in 106 games for the Gunners, but will come up against a Paris side with an impressive record in Europe