Mastery in Motion

The cover interview, with Irati Vidal, finds Arsenal’s Spain international reflecting on the most defining year of her career: a Champions League title won against Barcelona, the club she left after half a lifetime, plus PFA Players’ Player of the Year and a narrow Ballon d’Or runner-up finish behind Aitana Bonmati. Caldentey describes the risk of leaving home at 28, Laia Codina’s help settling in, and English accents undoing her confidence in the language. She is candid that Arsenal have lacked consistency this season, on four straight summers of tournament football, and on Spain’s changed conditions under Sonia Bermudez. She calls England’s league the best in the world and has no plans to move again.