News update
Former Barcelona forward and Ballon d’Or nominee Oshoala leaves San Francisco for Saudi Women’s League on free transfer.
Nigeria forward Asisat Oshoala has joined Saudi Women’s Premier League club Al-Hilal on transfer from Bay FC in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The 30-year-old Nigerian international signed a two-year contract with Al-Hilal.
Oshoala joined Bay FC before its inaugural season in 2024 from Barcelona, where she won two Women’s Champions League titles. She scored a team-high seven goals in her first year with the San Francisco Bay Area team.
The 30-year-old scored Bay FC’s first franchise goal on March 17, 2024, in the 17th minute of a match against Angel City.
“Asisat has been an incredibly important part of Bay FC history, not only with her impact on the pitch but also through the energy, professionalism, and kindness she brought every day,” Matt Patter, Bay’s sporting director, said in a prepared statement Tuesday.
“She is a world-class player and an even better person, and we are grateful for everything she contributed to our club in its first season.”
A six-time African player of the year, her last being in 2023, Oshoala was on the Nigerian team that won its 10th Africa Cup of Nations title in July.
Born in Ikorodu, Oshoala was also the first African woman to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or award, the title regarded as representing the best player in the world each year.
She missed out on the 2022 award to Alexia Putellas of Spain. That year also marked her sixth and last African Women’s Player of the Year award.
Oshoala joins fellow Nigerians, Ashleigh Plumptre and Francisca Ordega, at Al-Hilal.
Source:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
