‘You have to leave your comfort zone’ — Oshoala speaks on Bay FC move

Asisat Oshoala, Super Falcons striker, says she joined Bay FC, a new National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club, because “to attain a different height, you have to leave your comfort zone”.

Oshoala spoke in a chat with ESPN on Thursday.

Earlier, The 29-year-old signed a 2-year deal with Bay FC from FC Barcelona Femeni in the Spanish women’s league.

Oshoala’s five-year spell with the Catalan club was accolade-laden. She won two UEFA Women’s Champions League titles, four Spanish league titles, three Spanish Super Cups and the Copa de la Reina.

She finished as the Spanish league’s joint top scorer with 19 goals in 2022. The Lagos-born striker also got multiple CAF women’s Footballer of the Year awards. In 2023, she was named the best footballer on the continent for a record-extending sixth time. 

She also made the shortlist for the women’s Ballon d’Or twice.

Speaking on leaving such a prestigious club for a new team, Oshoala said she was attracted by Bay FC’s project because the team wants “to play a different style of football from what everybody knows the NWSL for”.

She added that it’s the right time to start and feel “something different” in her football career again.

“The style of football is completely different from Europe. But I am somebody who has actually moved to different places,” Oshoala said.

“The coach also wants to play a different style of football from what everybody knows the NWSL for. I think that was what really caught my attention.

“Sometimes you have to leave your comfort zone to create something different for yourself as a person or build something different as a person. And if you want to attain a different height, you have to leave your comfort zone because if not, you just become too comfortable in a space.”

Bay FC is a new women’s professional soccer franchise representing the Bay Area, San Francisco, and the 14th team to join the NWSL.

The club was established in April 2023 and co-founded by US Women’s national team legends Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton, and Aly Wagner.

Bay FC will start life in the NWSL against Angel City on March 17.