Female Soccer Player of the Year Contender Aitana Bonmati

Age: 27 Position: Midfielder Clubs: Barcelona and Spain

This has proven to be quite the 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 clear, with an impressive trophy haul throughout 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 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 lead Spain to the trophy, it was an notable 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 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 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 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 running around here in the village. If she keeps going like that, I think there's no limit to it. I feel 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 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 responsibility."

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 dedicated 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 group and as a team. Often some of these elite players are more self-focused and they always want to be them, them and them. No, she shares the awards and has demonstrated 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 power 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 stood out more than any other player was in the phase 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 discussed about Bonmati. She describes her biggest strengths as understanding the game and finding spaces with and without the ball, in order to find solutions in every match.

Tactically, this personal evaluation holds up flawlessly. It is impressive how much ground Bonmati covers when contrasted to others. This effort level combined with her spatial awareness, game IQ and skill level ensure she continually solves problems in games.

In possession, she shifts to find space in a way that benefits the team, similar to other players but from a more advanced starting position that often allows players less time and space.

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

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

Her guidance separates her from her contemporaries 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 establish a 2v1 situation for Spain in the wide areas.