Female Footballer of the Year Candidate Bonmati

Years Old: 27 Position: Midfielder Clubs: Barcelona & Spain

It has been an exceptional season for Aitana Bonmati. She achieved becoming the first player to win three women's Ballons d'Or, achieved a domestic treble and advanced to the Euro 2025 final.

Her pedigree is clear, with an extensive trophy haul throughout her career as well. She has won 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 impressive campaign.

The creative 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 selected as the Champions League's player of the season, recording 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 youthful with everything she has achieved. I believe that the ceiling will be set by her if she persists 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 running around here in the village. If she continues 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 attain his level."

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

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

The owner of a bar devoted to Bonmati in her home town: "Mostly for being as modest as she is. Her style of play. And she knows how to work as a unit 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 demonstrated that in all the galas she went to, acknowledging her team as the engine to herself. And, it is because of her way of being, her game and her strength and her quick reaction mindset."

While Bonmati created 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 stood out more than any other player was in the moment before a goal was scored and an assist awarded by constantly 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 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 self-assessment holds up perfectly. It is remarkable how much distance Bonmati covers when compared to others. This effort level combined with her field intelligence, game IQ and technical quality ensure she continually resolves problems in games.

In possession, she moves to find space in a way that advantages the team, similar to other players but from a more advanced starting position that often affords players less time and space.

For club and country, Bonmati intelligently 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 frequently created 3v2 or 2v1 situations.

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

Her guidance distinguishes 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, stopping them from getting settled attacking possession.

Bonmati shrewdly recognises the space she can exploit and with her running power arrives to create a 2v1 situation for Spain in the wide areas.