When Aitana Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or last year, it brought a global spotlight to a player whose genius was crying out to be recognised. Even now it would be hard to argue that there is a better female footballer on the planet. Over the past 16 months, Bonmati has won the Champions League twice and Spain ’s top-flight Liga F twice with Barcelona .
With Spain, she lifted the Women’s World Cup in August last year before adding the inaugural UEFA Women’s Nations League in February. Her goals and golden touch make her a leading contender to win another Ballon d’Or this year. It also attracted interest from the game’s biggest clubs.
Advertisement While rumours of interest from Chelsea and Lyon were growing, the midfielder was working with Barcelona to renew her contract — one that makes her the highest-paid player in women’s football history. This week in Barcelona, she spoke in depth with The Athletic, just a few days after signing a new Barca deal until the summer of 2028. We met at Barca’s sports complex on the outskirts of the city, in a small room in the media centre.
She arrived at lunchtime, hastily explaining that she hadn’t yet had a chance to eat after a morning of training sessions and meetings. Now 26, this has been Bonmati’s routine for a few years now: non-stop. But every day she drives back to her home in Sant Pere de Ribes, a small quiet town around 25 minutes down the coast.
It is where she has lived all her life. With a framed picture of t.