Even after the exit of Asisat Oshoala from Barcelona Women, Nigerian stars have continued to live up to the hype in the Spanish Liga F with four of them in the mix of the league’s lethal finishers. ABIODUN ADEWALE x-rays their stats
Edna Imade (Granada)
With 11 goals in 15 Liga F games, Imade is the second-highest goal scorer and the highest-scoring Nigerian in Spain’s women’s top division. Only Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor with 14 goals sits above her in the chart.
Born in Morocco and raised in Spain by Nigerian parents, Imade has not been to Nigeria but her performance for Granada this season is drawing her close to her roots with many tipping her for a Super Falcons call-up.
In her second season with Granada, she’s proven to have settled well after returning just five goals in 28 games last season.
She started the 2024/25 campaign with a brace against Eibar last September and it took her four more games before she added to her tally.
Remarkably, she has scored in her last seven matches and that form has powered Granada to the sixth position in the table.
That also earned her Liga F’s Player of The Month for December, becoming the second Nigerian after Rasheedat Ajibade to win the gong this season.
With the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on the horizon, the Super Falcons are undergoing a transformation under coach Justin Madugu and talents such as Imade will be a boost for the team as they hope to reclaim the title which they have won 11 times – the last being in 2018.
Gift Monday (Tenerife)
Super Falcons forward Monday follows Imade as the second Nigerian on the Liga F scoring chart but she is the most important player for Tenerife Women so far this season, leading their charge in the Spanish women’s topflight with seven goals and two assists.
With five goals in her last three games for Tenerife, the 23-year-old boosted her numbers for the season, having gone five games without scoring. She is now the sixth-highest goal scorer in the division.
Her recent brace in the 5-1 demolition of Deportivo La Coruna also earned her the club’s Player of The Week and a spot in Liga F’s Team of The Week.
Thanks to Monday’s lethal contribution, Tenerife are seventh in the league with 20 points after 15 games.
Monday had signed a three-season contract extension with Costa Adeje Tenerife Egatesa in September 2024, keeping her at the club till 2027. The president of the club Sergio Batista, described her as an important part of the group.
The Nigerian is in her third season with the Spanish outfit, and has now scored 19 goals plus two assists in 65 games since joining them in the 2022/23 season.
Rinsola Babajide (Tenerife)
Babajide comes just behind Monday in terms of goal contribution for Tenerife this season with the Falcons forward also contributing five goals and two assists in 13 games this season.
Interestingly, the two players are heads and shoulders above their teammates in terms of goals with every other player in the club having just one goal this season. Two other players; Aleksandra Zaremba and María José Pérez however have two assists, same as Babajide and Monday.
For the 26-year-old, she could well surpass her last season’s goal contribution for the club and that could pass as her best season in Spain. She had three goals and seven assists in 30 league games last season.
Rasheedat Ajibade (Atletico)
Undoubtedly the biggest Nigerian player in the Liga F but injury has slowed down the Super Falcons captain this season.
After setting the pace for other stars in the league as well as her compatriots with five goals and two assists in her first three games, she was out for a while and only returned to the mix before the end of 2024.
She however got back her scoring boots last Saturday, netting the first goal in Atletico Women’s 1-1 draw at Barcelona, taking her tally to six goals and two assists in 12 games.
In her great start to the season, she was crowned Spanish Liga F Player of the Month for September, beating other top players like Barcelona’s Ewa Pajor, Real Madrid’s Caroline Weir, Levante Badalona’s María Llompart, and Athletic Club Femenino’s Nerea Nevado to the award.