​Chelsea Shaw attack GFX – Getty/GOALSonia Bompastor missed out on a number of attacking targets over the summer, but her forwards have stepped up in impressive fashion thus farManchester City and Chelsea’s first meeting of the Women’s Super League season was always going to be highly anticipated, but this Saturday’s clash between the reigning champions and the winners of six successive WSL titles before last season almost had an entirely new element to it. Had the Londoners had it their way, it would’ve been Khadija Shaw’s first game against her old side.Chelsea’s pursuit of Shaw last season was no secret. Catarina Macario’s move to the San Diego Wave, Sam Kerr’s looming exit and Mayra Ramirez’s injury issues made signing a centre-forward a major priority in the summer window for the Blues. So, with contract talks between Shaw and City stalling, Chelsea were ready to pounce to secure the signature of one of the best strikers on the planet, if not the best.For a while, it looked like Shaw was nailed on to swap Manchester for west London too, only for it all to change at the last. As City’s celebrations surrounding a first WSL title in 10 years commenced, the Jamaica international revealed that she had signed a new four-year deal with the club, giving the champions a huge boost while simultaneously dealing one of their biggest rivals a massive blow.As the two teams prepare to go head-to-head for the first time this season though, it is Chelsea who are the top-scorers in the WSL, even though they sit two points behind City at the top of the table. Some were not convinced by the manner in which the club responded to Shaw’s snub, but the early signs have certainly been good – with there potentially even more to come.Overcoming challengesAfter falling short in the pursuit of several targets, eyebrows were raised when Chelsea paid a bumper fee for Melvine Malard, but she has proven to be an excellent additionIt’s quite a place for Chelsea to be in given how frustrating the start of the summer transfer window was. After Shaw chose to stay at City, the Blues unsuccessfully pursued both Felicia Schroder, who signed for Real Madrid, and Salma Paralluelo, who joined Lyon. With top-class centre-forwards so difficult to find, it looked like all of those on the market had slipped through their fingers.And so Chelsea changed tact a little. In came Manchester United’s Melvine Malard who, like Paralluelo, can play as a No.9 and has also been used a lot as a wide player. There were eyebrows raised at the fee paid, but head coach Sonia Bompastor knew the player well, having overseen a lot of her progress through the Lyon youth set-up before coaching her in the first-team, and she liked the versatility Malard could bring.”Sometimes when you are managing a team like Chelsea, it’s important to find the right balance in your squad in terms of numbers, but also quality,” she explained to GOAL in the summer. “I think having players who are able to play at the highest leve