photo: IMAGO | NurPhoto
Mariona Caldentey

Mariona Caldentey

Arsenal WFC
Arsenal WFC
Mar 19, 1996
#8 - Midfielder
mariona8co

María Francesca Caldentey Oliver, known as Mariona Caldentey or simply Mariona, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the Spain national team.

Did You Know?

Her dad is a football coach and president of their local team, CE Felanitx.

She also knows how to play the piano because her grandmother taught her when she was a child. But she doesn't like singing and consider herself as terrible singer.

She also played futsal and also was very successful in it. She played in three Spanish championships.

Funfact Image
Source: Instagram

She has written a book, so far only available in Spanish, where she describes her story and her career so far.

Her favourite number is 8, that's why she wears it on her jersey.


Articles

Check Guardian's 10 best footbalers of 2025

10. Leah Williamson

The captain of the Lionesses and Arsenal youth academy graduate, who fulfilled two dreams this year. She has been playing for Arsenal since she was eight, when she joined the club's academy. And this year, she brought the Champions League trophy back to England with the club she loves after 18 years. As if that weren't enough, two months later Williamson led England to defend their title at the Euros, becoming the first England captain to win the title on foreign soil.

9. Claudia Pina

The young star of Barcelona and Spain became the top scorer in the Champions League this year. And her successes continue into the new season—for example, she recently helped Spain win the Nations League final with two goals. At only 24, she still has a great deal ahead of her, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this outstanding forward climbs even higher in the top 100 now that she’s firmly established herself for both Barcelona and Spain.

8. Ewa Pajor 

The top scorer in Liga F, she has surpassed Spanish stars such as Pina, Putellas, and Bonmatí in terms of goals scored. Although she is still waiting for her first Champions League title, Pajor has had a successful year. In addition to her scoring successes in Barcelona, she also did well in the national team. Thanks mainly to her efforts, Poland qualified for the Euros for the first time, where they were not among the favorites, but still managed to defeat the much more favored Denmark.

7. Patri Guijarro 

Long overshadowed by Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí for both club and country, her years of orchestrating play frequently went unnoticed. Now, however, she has begun adding goals to her repertoire, making her an even more intimidating challenge for opponents. An injury disrupted the latter part of her year, and both Barcelona and Spain clearly feel her absence when she’s not on the pitch. She breaks into the top 10 for the first time, after placing 13th last year and 11th in 2023. She is currently injured, but fans of both Barca and Spain are exciting for her comeback.

6. Temwa Chawinga

The only representative of the American NWSL on the list. Chawinga will at last have the chance to showcase her talent on a continental stage when she represents Malawi at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations — a reward she has more than earned. Building on an outstanding first season in the NWSL, the Kansas City Current forward netted 15 goals to claim her second Golden Boot as she helped lead her team to the NWSL Shield. Sadly, her Current lost in playoff to NY Gotham. 

5. Hannah Hampton

Hampton was also voted BBC Player of the Year by fans. No wonder. The player, who as a child was told by doctors that she should never play sports, was Chelsea's unshakeable number one this year, winning the domestic treble and securing the title for England at Euro She became a heroine when she saved two penalty kicks, especially the final one.

4.  Alexia Putellas

La Reina, as Putellas is also known, has fully put her injury troubles in the past, reclaiming her starring role for both Barcelona and Spain in 2025. Her 16 league goals and 11 assists last season outshone her teammates as the club marched to further domestic triumphs. She continued her strong form at Euro 2025, though she fell just short of leading Spain to their first European crown

3. Alessia Russo

She scored the first and last goals for the Lionesses this year. But that's not Russo's only achievement. The 26-year-old Englishwoman shone at Arsenal and in the national team, celebrating success with both. This includes her individual career—she became the WSL's top scorer. She celebrated the Champions League title with Arsenal, and her goal in the Euro final sent the match into a penalty shootout, where the English women defended their 2022 victory. She has also been successful in front of goal this year, scoring four goals in the Champions League. 

2.  Mariona Caldentey

Arsenal's magician. Caldentey’s finest season to date has earned her a career-best ranking. After narrowly missing out on the top 10 last year. Playing a pivotal role in Arsenal’s Champions League triumph and standing out for Spain during their run to the Euro 2025 final where she scored and opened the score for Spain.

1.Aitana Bonmatí

Winner of the Golden Ball in 2025, when she became the first player ever to achieve a hattrick. She earned Uefa’s Champions League Player of the Season award for 2024-25 and was also honoured as Player of the Tournament at Euro 2025. While remaining central to Barcelona’s domestic dominance, she also delivered in decisive moments — including providing the spark Spain needed in their Euro semi-final against Germany.

Discover the whole list here.

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Mariona Caldentey is the only female footballer nominated for BBC award

Dec 10, 2025
Mariona Caldentey

There is only one female footballer nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the year award, the Spanish star of Arsenal.

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Iman Beney's debut goal and another point drop for Arsenal

An 88th-minute winner by substitute Iman Beney sealed a dramatic 3–2 victory for Manchester City over Arsenal. The match swung back and forth—Chloe Kelly looked to have snatched a point for her former club—but Beney’s finish proved decisive in what may already be a title-race turning point.

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Mariona Caldentey is PFA player of the year. check her best goals

Mariona Caldentey has been voted the 2024–25 PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year, an honor decided by a vote among players in England’s women’s professional leagues. In her first season with Arsenal, Caldentey scored 19 goals across all competitions—including eight in the Champions League—and provided nine assists, playing a pivotal role in guiding the club to its first European title in 18 years by defeating Barcelona in the final.

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What a season for Mariona Caldentey. Will she score in the final?

Mariona Caldentey transferred from Barcelona to Arsenal as a free agent last season, where she also scored many goals. With nine goals and five assists, she is one of the most successful players in the WSL last season. On Sunday, she will face her Arsenal teammates in the Euro final. Will she manage to score? Check out her best moments from last season.

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We know all the WSL awards winners

May 12, 2025
Mariona Caldentey

On Saturday 10 May, the last Women's Super League matches were played and the 2024/25 season came to an end. The announcement of the best players did not have to wait long.

  • Player of the year: Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal). The Player of the Year was newcomer in the English league Mariona Caldentey, who joined Arsenal from Barcelona at the beginning of the season. In 21 games she has scored 9 goals and 5 assists and the Gunners will rely on her skills in the UWCL final that is still to come.
  • Golden boot: Alessia Russo (Arsenal) and Bunny Shaw (Manchester City) - both 12 goals. The Golden Boot, the award for the top scorer of the season, is divided between Arsenal's Alessia Russo and Manchester City's Bunny Shaw. Russo also recently won the award by the Football Writers' Association (FWA) for the best female football player. Shaw might have improved her stats, unfortunately she hasn't played since March due to a thigh injury.
  • Golden glove: Hannah Hampton (Chelsea) and Phallon Tullis - Joyce (Manchester United) - both 13 clean sheets. Despite Chelsea being league champions, the club only won one award - the golden glove for best goalkeeper, which went to number one for both the Blues and Lionesses Hannah Hampton. Red Devils number one Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who joined the English league from the NWSL at the start of the season, has the same number of clean sheets.
  • Goal of the season: Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City) - The Dutch cannonballer left Arsenal at the beginning of the season, where she spent 7 seasons and was one of the most productive players of the London team. However, the transfer to the Citizens did not compromise her performance - in 11 matches she scored seven times. Her goal against Aston Villa was awarded the best goal of the season.
  • Rising star: Shekiera Martinez (West Ham United). The German player has returned to the Hammers after a year-long loan from Freiburg and it has obviously done her good. In March, she became the first ever West Ham player to be awarded player of the month. In April, she scored four goals in one game against Crystal Palace.
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Lyon is gonna enter home game with 2-1 win over Arsenal

Lyon's players are once again closer to the final of the Champions League. The only goal of the first half was scored by Diana Kadidiatou. The second half was more in favour of the home Canaries, who had several great but unconverted chances. However, after a foul by the goalkeeper on Leah Williamson, the home team was awarded a penalty, which was converted by Mariona Caldentey. The home team's joy was quickly spoiled by Dumoray who increased the lead and Lyon took a 2-1 win into the home rematch.

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The goal that sent Arsenal to the UWCL final


Club Achievements

Primera División
UEFA Women's Champions League
Copa de la Reina de Fútbol
Supercopa Femenina
Copa Catalunya

Awards

IFFHS Women's UEFA Team
Arsenal Player of the Season

Stats

Year Club AP GL
2024
-
present
Arsenal 19 7
2014
-
2024
Barcelona 302 114
2011
-
2014
Colleresance 58 17
International Stats
2017
-
present
Spain 68 24
2016
-
Spain U20 4 2
2014
-
2015
Spain U19 14 12
2013
-
Spain U17 2 1