Manchester City’s Due to the failure to submit a visa application, Khadija Shaw is not in the squad for Wednesday evening’s Champions League qualifier against Paris FC.

Shaw did not travel to France for the first leg of the second qualifying round, despite late attempts to obtain a visa. The Guardian has been told the Jamaican striker was sent to the French embassy on Tuesday morning but the request for an expedited visa was refused. City denied Shaw was asked to seek a late visa and are confident there will be no problems in the future.

City have failed to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League in the last three seasons. In the 2022/23 season, they finished fourth in the Women’s Super League and failed to qualify. In the other two seasons, they were eliminated in the qualifying rounds by Real Madrid.

The absence of the influential Shaw will likely be sorely felt, despite the arrival of Vivianne Miedema from Arsenal, as Paris FC are not an easy team to beat. Last season they eliminated Arsenal and Wolfsburg to reach the group stage, finishing third in Group D ahead of Real Madrid. Paris secured two wins against Madrid and scored goals in defeats at home to Häcken and at Chelsea.

Shaw was the WSL’s top scorer last season with 21 goals in 18 games, equalling Sam Kerr’s tally in 2021-22 and bettered only by Miedema’s 22 goals in 2018-19 and Rachel Daly’s 22 in 2022-23. Shaw was named WSL Player of the Season, Professional Footballers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year and Football Writers’ Association Women’s Footballer of the Year.