Female Soccer Player of the Year Candidate Aitana Bonmati

Age: 27 Role: Midfielder Clubs: Barcelona & Spain

This has proven to be an exceptional season for Aitana Bonmati. She became the first player to claim three women's Ballons d'Or, achieved a domestic treble and reached the Euro 2025 final.

Her track record is evident, with an extensive 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.

While 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 inventive playmaker netted 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.

Tino Herrero: "I think 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 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 exercising here in the village. If she continues like that, I think there's no limit to it. I believe 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 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 expected - 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 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 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 initiating so many of Barcelona's successful attacks last season.

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

Strategically, this self-assessment holds up perfectly. It is impressive how much ground Bonmati covers when contrasted to others. This effort level combined with her spatial awareness, game IQ and technical quality 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 smartly ran into unconventional 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 frequently created 3v2 or 2v1 situations.

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

Her leadership 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 tactical benefit of forcing teams back, preventing them from getting settled attacking possession.

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