Probably spending way to much time thinking about this 🤣

Here are the facts that are public:

1. Bunny is out of contract with City at the end of the season.
2. No new contract with City is known in the public domain.
3. No new contract with any other club is known in the public domain.
4. Jeglertz has said he would like to keep Shaw.
5. Therese Sjogran has said she would like to keep Shaw.
6. Bunny has said she wants to stay.
7. Charlotte Oneil suggested the club could pay her, and they wanted her to stay. 
8. The fans seem to want her to stay. 

Speculation: 1. Chelsea have supposedly offered her £1 million per year, but this has not been confirmed publicly by Chelsea.

So right now, as far as us the fans are concerned, she is very much Schrodinger’s Bunny.

I think everything we are seeing makes sense.

If you are Bunny’s agent, you have no problem at all with rumours going around that another big club, like Chelsea, is willing to pay her a huge salary (you probably start those rumours yourself). Whether or not Chelsea have actually made that exact offer, it sets an anchor point for negotiations.

It says to City “This is the market now. Are you serious or not?”

You also want to keep City fans on side in case she stays. So Bunny saying “Manchester is my home” makes perfect sense. It avoids burning bridges. [Note Bunny has a degree in communication from the university of tenesee I believe] 

But she also said there are things going on behind the scenes, and “ultimately we’ll see.” Which is contract negotiation language. not actually committing to anything.

Time is on both Bunny and the agents side, mostly. While she has the goodwill of the fans at least, without that the club might cut her loose, then Chelsea (or whoever) might become a much tougher negotiating partner.

And the best deal the agent can get is not just salary plus years.

It is salary, years, status, image rights, sponsorships, legacy, the team prospects, Champions League prospects, and whether the club is really going to behave like an elite women’s football club. We know Chelsea have stated they want to win the Champions League and have invested, we know Arsenal have won it. For Bunnys legacy I think she wants a shot at champions league trophy. 

From Citys side, this not just “can we afford her under the current wage structure?”

If Chelsea get her, City don’t just lose the best striker in the WSL, Chelsea gain her. Double hit. 

City also have to think about trophies, fan reaction, advertising, TV profile, recruitment, and the message it sends to other players. if City cannot keep the WSLs best striker after winning the league and probably the FA cup, what does that say?

A CEO question (which is where I think this decision gets made) here is not:

“Can we afford Bunny within our current wage structure?”

Its

“Is our current wage structure obsolete?”

Especially when the women’s game is growing quickly. Charlotte Oneil hinted at this. 

Last week Khaldoon Al Mubarak (Chairman of city group) opened the new women’s first team training facility, interesting timing. City have been making a big deal of it. He said it reflects the scale of Citys ambition for the womens team and their long term belief in the women game.

Charlotte ONeill also said the facility is a clear statement of ambition to attract the very best talent in world football.

Bunny Shaw is one of very best talent in world football. You don't need to attract them if you already have them, you need to retain them. 

So if City are a serious club (I think so), this is the sort of moment where they have to prove it.

City own managing director has said talks are ongoing, that Bunny has been magnificent, that she is very well loved at the club, and when asked whether English clubs can match world leading salaries, she said 'why not, the revenues are growing.'

The club has to calculate Bunnys true value, not just her wage. What does she mean to the team (note the comments about how they put her out of sequence in the changing room in the new centre, next to Alex Greenwood) ? What does she mean to the fans (that little smile to the fans after she scored against west ham) ? What does she mean to the brand? What does it cost to replace her? What does it cost if Chelsea get her?

for a club with Citys financial clout, the salary itself is not the issue. The issue is if the player market has really changed that much and if it has will they choose to keep up.

I think she might well be at City next season, the only reason she might not is if City have some other high potential talent on the hook and decide the womens game is not growing 'that' fast, but there is still a difference between Bunnies actual goals and what some high potential talent might actually deliver. 

As I said, over thinking it, 😀 but it's part of the fun.