Female Footballer of the Year Candidate Aitana Bonmati

Years Old: 27 Position: Midfielder Teams: Barcelona and Spain

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

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

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

The creative playmaker scored the goal that beat Germany in the Euros semi-final as Spain made history by advancing 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.

A former club president: "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 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 feel that she could become like Lionel Messi with eight Ballons d'Or. She will be able to attain his level."

Bonmati on 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 expected - 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 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 group and as a team. Often some of these elite 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 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 team-mates 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, 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 comprehending the game and finding spaces with and without the ball, in order to identify solutions in every match.

Tactically, this personal evaluation holds up perfectly. It is impressive how much ground Bonmati covers when contrasted to others. This work-rate combined with her spatial awareness, game IQ and skill level ensure she constantly 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 higher starting position that often allows players less time and space.

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

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

Her leadership distinguishes her from her contemporaries too.

Her relentless running, particularly in her counter-pressing, secondarily 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 utilize and with her stamina arrives to create a 2v1 situation for Spain in the wide areas.