From Barcelona Femeni to Bay FC: The story of Asisat Oshoala

After her five-year successful campaign at Barcelona Femeni, Asisat Oshoala, Super Falcons striker and six-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year, moved to the United States, where she signed for Bay FC, a new women’s professional soccer franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The 29-year-old new Bay FC striker is one of the most celebrated African female footballers of all time, having won African Women’s Footballer of the Year a record six times.

Now she is bringing her talents to the United States with the newest NWSL expansion franchise, Bay FC.

Across five seasons at Barcelona Femeni, Oshoala scored 107 goals in 149 appearances, including a record 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.

Oshoala 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.

The reigning African Women’s Footballer of the Year brings her wealth of goal-scoring experience to the NWSL.

“I’ve stayed a long time in Europe; it’s the longest I’ve stayed anywhere,” Oshoala told Just Women’s Sports.

“I have played on 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 that 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,” Oshoala said.

Announcing Oshaola’s arrival, club manager Lucy Rushton said the reigning African Women’s Footballer of the Year brings her rich wealth of goal-scoring experience to Bay FC.

“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,” Rushton told the club’s website.

“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.”

Fans in the United States will have the opportunity to watch the finest African female footballer display her skills, dibbles, and energetic pace.

She is regarded as one of the greatest African female footballers of all time and one of the best in the world. Oshoala began her career with Rivers Angels FC, where she won the 2014 Nigerian Women’s Championship.

She later moved to England and signed for Liverpool, where she spent one season and another with Arsenal, winning the 2016 FA Cup with Arsenal before signing with Chinese club Dalian in 2017. After winning two league titles in China, she shifted her career to Spain with FC Barcelona Femeni in 2019.

Oshoala expressed excitement about her move to the NWSL and now sees herself playing in front of American crowds and wants Bay FC to contend for a playoff spot in their first year.

“I’m not going to expect the same level of performance from my teammates compared to where I’m coming from,” Oshoala said.

“But I’m ready to kind of go for it. I’m ready to fight for them, fight for each other, go out there, have each other’s back, and tell ourselves it’s our first year and we want to reach the playoffs.”

“You want everyone to feel like we’re not going to be an easy team to play. If you’re going to get a point off of us, you can work for it.”

Oshoala has appeared in three FIFA Women’s World Cups (2015, 2019, 2023) with Nigeria, helping the team advance to the Round of 16 in both the 2019 and 2023 tournaments. As a youth international, she was the Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, scoring seven goals in the tournament.