Women's Footballer of the Year Candidate Bonmati

Age: 27 Position: Midfielder Clubs: Barcelona & Spain

This has proven to be an exceptional year for Aitana Bonmati. She became the first player to win three women's Ballons d'Or, secured a domestic treble and advanced to the Euro 2025 final.

Her track record is evident, with an impressive trophy haul across her career to boot. She has earned seven league titles, three European crowns, nine Copas de la Reina and five Spanish Super Cups.

Although Barcelona were defeated by Arsenal in the Champions League final, and her remarkable return from a bout of viral meningitis just prior to the start of the Euros was not enough to guide Spain to the trophy, it was an impressive campaign.

The creative playmaker netted the goal that defeated Germany in the Euros semi-final as Spain achieved a milestone by progressing to the final for the first time.

She was also named the Champions League's player of the season, registering nine goal contributions in her 11 appearances and scoring in their 4-1 semi-final second-leg win at Chelsea.

Tino Herrero: "I believe that Aitana does not have a ceiling at the moment. She is a very competitive girl, and the truth is that she is very young with everything she has achieved. I believe that the ceiling will be set by her if she continues to be like this, so determined, taking care of herself.

"There are times when you see her running at 11pm at night, so that not too many people can see her. She is running around here in the village. If she keeps going like that, I think there's no limit to it. I feel that she could become like Lionel Messi with eight Ballons d'Or. She will be able to reach his level."

Bonmati regarding what it means to play for Barcelona: "It's both a point of honor and a duty. We're not only evaluated by our results but also by how we play. Most teams would be satisfied just winning, but we're required - and we expect ourselves - to win and play well. That's a big responsibility."

Manchester City men's manager: "Aitana Bonmati is a football player who has me completely in love with her for the way she plays. I would say she is like the women's Iniesta."

The owner of a bar dedicated to Bonmati in her home town: "Mostly for being as modest as she is. Her playing technique. And she knows how to work as a unit and as a team. Often some of these elite players are more self-focused and they always want to be them, them and them. No, she shares the awards and has demonstrated that in all the galas she went to, recognising her team as the engine to herself. And, it is because of her way of being, her game and her strength and her fast-thinking mindset."

While Bonmati generated the most chances in Liga F last season, 10 players delivered more assists than her six, including her Barcelona teammates who provided a league-high 11 and 10 assists respectively.

But where Bonmati stood out more than any other player was in the moment before a goal was scored and an assist awarded by consistently providing the pass to the player who assisted the goal, quietly starting so many of Barcelona's successful attacks last season.

There isn't much that hasn't been said about Bonmati. She describes her biggest strengths as understanding the game and locating spaces with and without the ball, in order to find solutions in every match.

Tactically, this self-assessment holds up flawlessly. It is impressive how much ground Bonmati covers when compared to others. This work-rate combined with her spatial awareness, game IQ and skill level ensure she continually solves problems in games.

In possession, she shifts to find space in a way that advantages the team, comparable to other players but from a higher starting position that often allows players less time and space.

For club and country, Bonmati smartly ran into unorthodox positions, sometimes even abandoning her position to move to the opposite side to create an overload. This contradicts what a positional side would normally do but her movement regularly created 3v2 or 2v1 situations.

With a player surplus, her passing and other-worldly small space dribbling becomes nearly impossible to stop.

Her leadership distinguishes her from her contemporaries too.

Her persistent running, particularly in her counter-pressing, secondarily raises the level of intensity in her teams and has the tactical benefit of pushing teams back, preventing them from getting settled attacking possession.

Bonmati intelligently recognises the space she can utilize and with her stamina arrives to establish a 2v1 situation for Spain in the wide areas.