American club Bay FC has signed Nigerian striker Asisat Oshoala from Barcelona Women. The 29-year-old, who was named African Women’s Footballer of the Year for a sixth time in December, has signed a deal until 2026 with the option of a third year with the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team.
Bay FC paid Barcelona Femeni €150m to secure her services. Oshoala won four league titles: the Champions League twice, and eight domestic cups during five years in Spain, where she had five months to run on her contract with the Catalan club.
“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 with that.”
Oshoala, who previously had spells with Liverpool and Arsenal, scored 117 goals in 162 appearances for Barca, which she joined from the Chinese side Dalian Quanjian in 2019. She was the first African woman to win a Champions League title in 2021 – having already become the first African woman to score in a final in 2019. Oshoala, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or twice, joins Bay FC as the San Jose-based outfit prepares for its first NWSL campaign as the American top flight expands to 14 clubs. Oshoala’s tally of 117 goals for Barcelona Women made her the club’s fourth-highest goal scorer in the professional era.
