If the Women’s Ballon d’Or were a cup final, the cameras would have cut to a shot of the engraver etching Aitana Bonmati’s name on the trophy weeks ago.
Bonmati’s accession to the throne at the very top of women’s football, vacated by her Barcelona and Spain team-mate Alexia Putellas, has been as predictable as any kind of hereditary monarchy.
The 25-year-old midfielder has swept the board when it comes to trophies and individual awards: the World Cup, Liga F, the UEFA Women’s Champions League, UEFA player of the year, Champions League player of the season, the World Cup Golden Ball. There was no question of her deserving to win the biggest individual prize of all, but there is one as to whether this was the start of an era of dominance or just a flash in the pan.
On the one hand, Bonmati is the youngest winner of the Women’s Ballon d’Or since Ada Hegerberg won as a 23-year-old in 2018. On the other, the role she has been able to play this season has been hugely influenced by the absence of previous two-time winner Putellas.
The ACL injury Putellas suffered in July 2022 gave Bonmati an opportunity to step into the limelight. Putellas has been rightly heralded as the star of Barcelona and Spain but, with her unavailable, there was an opportunity for other…
