Manchester City Women’s Title Winners: Player Ratings from Yamashita to Bunny Shaw
The trophy is finally back in sky blue. Across a long, demanding Women’s Super League season, Manchester City’s squad has carried the weight of a title race and come out on top. Some were ever‑presents, some emerged from the shadows, others saw their campaign clipped by injury. All of them played a part.
Here is how City’s champions stack up.
Goalkeepers
Ayaka Yamashita – 7
Seven clean sheets, a Golden Glove contender and a calm pair of hands behind a high defensive line. Yamashita has been exactly what City needed: assured, reliable and brave enough with the ball to fuel Andrée Jeglertz’s possession game. Her distribution has often been the launchpad for City’s attacks, not just a safety valve. A solid season from a goalkeeper who rarely flinched under pressure.
Khiara Keating – 6
Four league appearances, two wins over Tottenham, another against Brighton and a clean sheet at Aston Villa. Keating has done little wrong when called upon and, at 21, her development is clear. The question now is not about talent but about timing. Does she stay and scrap for minutes behind Yamashita, or look elsewhere to become a weekly No 1?
Defenders
Kerstin Casparij – 9
One of only two players to start every league game. That says plenty. The Netherlands right‑back has been a driving force down City’s flank, her overlaps and whipped crosses a constant threat. Casparij’s energy never seems to dip, and her consistency has been remarkable in a season where the margins were razor thin. Week after week, she has been one of the most dependable players in the division.
Alex Greenwood – 8.5
A captain who wore the tension of a title race lightly. Greenwood’s leadership has been immense, her calm presence soothing nerves on and off the ball. Thirteen years after playing in the WSL’s inaugural season with Everton, she finally has her first league title. It has been a long time coming. At 32, she reads danger early, uses the ball intelligently and sets the tone for those around her.
Rebecca Knaak – 7.5
Not the loudest name on the teamsheet, but quietly crucial. Knaak has been a dependable option at the back, strong in the air and tidy in possession. Her late winner against Liverpool at the start of the month may well go down as one of the defining moments of the title race. In a season when City had to absorb the loss of Laia Aleixandri to Barcelona, Knaak helped ensure the back line never cracked.
Jade Rose – 7.5
An astute piece of recruitment. The Canada international has slotted in quickly, building a sharp understanding with her fellow defenders. At 23, with three more years on her contract, Rose looks like a long‑term pillar of this defence. She has handled the physical and tactical demands of the WSL with impressive maturity.
Leila Ouahabi – 6.5
There is no doubting Ouahabi’s attacking intent. At 33, she still surges forward with purpose and offers real width. The issue has been balance. On the opposite flank, Casparij has set a ferocious standard, and Ouahabi’s defensive work has not always matched it. With City eyeing the Champions League, an upgrade at left‑back in the summer feels likely.
Gracie Prior – 6.5
Used sparingly, but she did not look out of place. The 21‑year‑old has shown enough in her handful of appearances to suggest she can grow into a reliable squad option. Next season will tell whether she can turn promise into a regular role.
Naomi Layzell – 5.5
Layzell’s campaign never really got going. An injury on England Under‑23 duty in October led to hip surgery in December, ending her involvement. Before that, she had performed reasonably well in limited minutes. A stop‑start year, and one she will be desperate to put behind her.
Midfielders
Yui Hasegawa – 9
Pure class. Hasegawa’s technical level is elite: quick changes of direction, immaculate close control, composure in tight spaces. Pushed slightly higher up the pitch this season, the Japan captain has hurt teams with late runs into the box as well as her passing. She has added another layer to City’s attacking patterns, dictating tempo and slicing through lines.
Laura Blindkilde Brown – 8
The unsung engine of the first half of the campaign. Blindkilde Brown looked to have nailed down the holding role, screening the defence and recycling possession with maturity beyond her 22 years. The January arrival of Sam Coffey nudged her down the pecking order, which felt harsh on form alone. Even so, this has been the best season of her young career.
Sam Coffey – 7
Coffey arrived from the US in January and immediately brought experience and steel. She added international quality in the middle of the park, the kind of savvy that will be vital in Europe. Her presence has deepened City’s midfield options and sharpened competition for places.
Laura Coombs – 6.5
At 35, Coombs has been more squad glue than headline act, but that matters in a title run. Her attitude and work in training are understood to have helped keep the dressing room tight. On the pitch she has chipped in when needed, and she signs off her career with a champion’s medal. A fitting final chapter.
Grace Clinton – 6
Clinton’s season promised so much early on. A debut goal against Tottenham, one of her former clubs, in September hinted at a starring role after her move across the city. Then injuries bit. Stop‑start availability blunted her impact and she never quite built sustained rhythm. At 23, there is still plenty of time to make her mark next year.
Sydney Lohmann – 5
Another whose campaign never found flow. Signed from Bayern Munich with big expectations, Lohmann impressed on the opening night against Chelsea but then ran into fitness problems. The flashes were there, but they were fleeting. City will hope a full pre‑season unlocks the player they thought they were getting.
Forwards
Khadija “Bunny” Shaw – 10
Unstoppable. Shaw is set to claim the Golden Boot again and stands as the outstanding player in the WSL this season. She has bullied defences, punished mistakes and delivered in the biggest games as well as against the league’s strugglers. Her movement in the box makes her almost impossible to track, her finishing ruthless. Right now, she is the best striker in the world, and City’s title rests heavily on her shoulders.
Kerolin – 8.5
When she clicks with Shaw, City become terrifying. The Brazilian has grown into the season, developing a sharp understanding with her centre‑forward. Her defining night came in February, when she tore Chelsea apart with a stunning hat‑trick in a 5-1 win that swung the title race. A lower‑body injury disrupted her early months, but she has been a game‑changer off the bench and from the start.
Lauren Hemp – 8.5
Full‑backs have had nightmares about Hemp. The England winger has created more than three chances per 90 minutes on average, a relentless source of danger. An ankle injury in the autumn robbed her of a likely place at the top of the assist charts, but once fit again she resumed tormenting defences weekly. Direct, inventive and fearless.
Vivianne Miedema – 8
Only at City could the WSL’s all‑time leading scorer quietly slip under the radar. Miedema has adapted superbly to a deeper No 10 role, hitting double figures for goals while also laying on a stream of assists. Her vision and timing between the lines have given City a different kind of threat. At 29, she remains firmly in the world‑class bracket.
Aoba Fujino – 7.5
Electric. The 22‑year‑old has repeatedly brought fans to their feet with quick feet and imagination in the final third. A minor injury in January and a concussion in February stalled her momentum and dulled some of the sparkle from a blistering first half of the campaign. Even so, her ceiling is high and her future bright.
Iman Beney – 7
Minutes have been limited, but impact? Huge. The 19‑year‑old’s late winner in the 3-2 victory over Arsenal was one of the season’s pivotal moments, a ruthless finish under pressure. She followed it with another crucial goal in the 2-1 win at Anfield a week later. In a title race, those are the margins that decide everything.
Lily Murphy – 5
Murphy’s season was almost over before it started. A shoulder injury deep into stoppage time on opening night against Chelsea curtailed her involvement. Since returning in December, she has been a regular presence on the bench but has not seen league minutes. At Under‑20 level for England she is highly regarded; she may feel she deserved more chances to show why.
City’s champions have been built on Shaw’s goals, Hasegawa’s craft and Casparij’s relentlessness, but also on the quieter contributions of squad players and the grit of those fighting back from injury. The title is secured. The real test now is whether this group can turn domestic dominance into a European statement.
