Women's Soccer Player of the Year Contender Aitana Bonmati

Age: 27 Position: Midfielder Clubs: Barcelona & Spain

This has proven to be an exceptional season 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 extensive 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 beaten by Arsenal in the Champions League final, and her extraordinary return from a bout of viral meningitis just prior to the start of the Euros was not enough to lead Spain to the trophy, it was an impressive campaign.

The creative playmaker netted the goal that beat Germany in the Euros semi-final as Spain made history by progressing to the final for the first time.

She was also named 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 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 persists to be like this, so competitive, 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 believe that she could evolve into like Lionel Messi with eight Ballons d'Or. She will be able to reach his level."

Bonmati on 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 expected - and we expect ourselves - to win and play well. That's a big responsibility."

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 devoted 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 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 proven that in all the galas she went to, recognising her team as the driving force to herself. And, it is because of her personality, her game and her strength and her fast-thinking mindset."

Although 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 set up the goal, silently initiating 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 understanding the game and locating spaces with and without the ball, in order to identify solutions in every match.

Tactically, this self-assessment holds up perfectly. It is remarkable how much ground Bonmati covers when contrasted to others. This effort level combined with her field intelligence, game IQ and technical quality ensure she constantly 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 more advanced starting position that often allows 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 create an overload. This goes against 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 almost impossible to stop.

Her leadership distinguishes her from her contemporaries too.

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

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