Women's Footballer of the Year Contender Bonmati

Age: 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 reached the Euro 2025 final.

Her pedigree is clear, with an extensive trophy haul across 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 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 inventive playmaker scored the goal that defeated Germany in the Euros semi-final as Spain achieved a milestone by advancing to the final for the first time.

She was also selected as the Champions League's player of the season, registering nine goal contributions in her 11 appearances and netting 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 youthful with everything she has achieved. I think 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 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 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 responsibility. We're not only judged by our results but also by how we play. Most teams would be content just winning, but we're expected - 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 devoted to Bonmati in her home town: "Mostly for being as humble 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 individualistic and they always want to be them, them and them. No, she shares the awards and has proven that in all the galas she went to, recognising her team as the engine to herself. And, it is because of her personality, her game and her power and her fast-thinking mindset."

While 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 set up the goal, silently starting so many of Barcelona's successful attacks last season.

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

Strategically, this personal evaluation 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 skill level ensure she constantly solves 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 affords players less time and space.

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

With a numerical advantage, her passing and exceptional small space dribbling becomes almost 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 tactical benefit of forcing teams back, stopping them from getting settled attacking possession.

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