Women's Soccer Player of the Year Candidate Bonmati

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

It has been quite the year for Aitana Bonmati. She achieved becoming the pioneering athlete to claim three women's Ballons d'Or, achieved a domestic treble and advanced to the Euro 2025 final.

Her pedigree is clear, with an impressive 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 beaten by Arsenal in the Champions League final, and her remarkable return from a bout of viral meningitis just prior to the start of the Euros was not enough to guide Spain to the trophy, it was an notable campaign.

The creative 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 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 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 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 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 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 responsibility."

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 playing technique. And she knows how to work as a unit and as a team. Often some of these top-tier players are more self-focused 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 strength and her fast-thinking mindset."

While Bonmati generated the most chances in Liga F last season, 10 players delivered more assists than her six, including her Barcelona team-mates who provided a league-high 11 and 10 assists respectively.

But where Bonmati stood out more than any other player was in the phase before a goal was scored and an assist awarded by constantly 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 said 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.

Tactically, this personal evaluation holds up flawlessly. It is remarkable how much ground Bonmati covers when compared to others. This work-rate combined with her field intelligence, game IQ and technical quality ensure she continually solves problems in games.

In possession, she moves to find space in a way that benefits 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 unorthodox positions, sometimes even abandoning her position to move to the opposite side to generate 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 counter-pressing, secondarily 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 intelligently identifies the space she can utilize and with her running power arrives to create a 2v1 situation for Spain in the wide areas.