Women's Footballer of the Year Candidate Bonmati

Age: 27 Role: Midfielder Teams: Barcelona & Spain

This has proven to be quite the year for Aitana Bonmati. She achieved becoming the first player to claim three women's Ballons d'Or, secured a domestic treble and reached the Euro 2025 final.

Her track record is evident, with an impressive trophy haul throughout 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 shortly before the start of the Euros was not enough to lead Spain to the trophy, it was an notable campaign.

The inventive playmaker scored 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 think that Aitana does not have a ceiling at the moment. She is a very driven 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 competitive, taking care of herself.

"There are times when you see her training at 11pm at night, so that not too many people can see her. She is exercising here in the village. If she keeps going like that, I think there's no limit to it. I believe that she could evolve into 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 source of pride and a responsibility. We're not only judged 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 obligation."

A top club 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 humble as she is. Her style of play. And she knows how to work as a group and as a team. Often some of these top-tier players are more individualistic and they always want to be them, them and them. No, she distributes the awards and has proven that in all the galas she went to, acknowledging her team as the engine to herself. And, it is because of her personality, her game and her strength and her quick reaction mindset."

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

But where Bonmati excelled 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, silently starting so many of Barcelona's successful attacks last season.

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

Strategically, this personal evaluation holds up flawlessly. It is impressive how much distance Bonmati covers when contrasted to others. This work-rate combined with her field intelligence, game IQ and technical quality ensure she constantly solves problems in games.

In possession, she moves to find space in a way that benefits 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 intelligently ran into unorthodox positions, sometimes even leaving her position to move to the opposite side to generate an overload. This goes against what a positional side would normally do but her movement regularly created 3v2 or 2v1 situations.

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

Her guidance separates her from her peers too.

Her persistent running, particularly in her defensive pressure, indirectly raises the level of intensity in her teams and has the strategic advantage of pushing teams back, preventing them from getting settled attacking possession.

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