England going head-to-head with women's highest-paid footballer in Euro 2025 final
England will have to contend with the highest-paid female footballer if they are to retain their Women's Euro trophy this year. The Lionesses are set to do battle with Spain in the final of the tournament, with a chance to create history as the first English side to defend a major international honour successfully.
However, the Spaniards - who defeated England 1-0 to win the World Cup two years ago - stand in their way, and they have a pretty expensive weapon at their disposal. Aitana Bonmati is one of Spain's key players and is the sole reason the world champions are in the final in the first place.
The Barcelona playmaker stunned Germany with a swerving strike in the 113th minute of the semi-final to send her country to their first-ever Euro final last week.
The midfielder - who contracted viral meningitis before the tournament began - has been an extremely important star in the competition. Bonmati has scored and assisted once in five matches to help Spain to within 90 minutes of their ultimate goal.
Bonmati is widely report to the highest-paid female footballer right now - and eveidently, for good reason. The Barcelona star is said to pocked a whopping £835,000 weekly wage, which is over a quarter of a million more than her nearest competition.
Alexia Putellas, who also plays for Barcelona and Spain, earns the second-most with £584,000 - and England's biggest earner is fifth on the list, with Keira Walsh raking in £382,000 per annum.
Bonmati is a highly decorated footballer, with six Primera Division league titles, three Champions Leagues, seven Copa de la Reina wins and five Supercopa de España triumphs.
Individually, the 27-year-old has been named the Best FIFA Women's player on two occasions and has also won the Ballon d'Or Féminin twice, in 2023 and 2024.
The midfielder is also a current world champion and Nations League holder with Spain and hopes to add to her international honours with a European Championship win.
However, the Lionesses will be aiming to retain their Euros trophy and may have their own secret weapon. Both Lucy Bronze and the aforementioned Walsh played alongside Bonmati and a host of other Spanish players when they both starred for Barcelona, potentially giving them some insider information about their rivals' dangerwomen.
Spain and England have both had to show mettle in the latter stages of the tournmanet, with Sarina Wiegman's team requiring a penalty shootout to get past Sweden in the quarter-final and an injury-time equaliser and extra-time winning penalty in their semi-final win over Italy.
Meanwhile, Bonmati herself sent Spain to the final with a strike in extra-time against Germany last week, and may well be the hero once again for her country - although the Lionesses will hope that is not the case.
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