Ona Mission To Be Better (Ona Batlle interview)

Described by the Spain coach Jorge Vilda as quick and brave, Ona Batlle came to Manchester United by way of Barcelona B, Madrid CFF and Levante and went straight into the side of a team challenging at the top of the WSL. She is disarming about the reason it has worked: above all, she says, it is the quality of the people around her, and she is still getting used to that. Training against Tobin Heath and Christen Press every day is, she says, very high-intensity and the fastest education available. She talks about learning from Casey Stoney day in and day out, about what Marta Corredera taught her physically at Levante, and about a Spanish youth set-up where under-17s and under-19s know a senior place is genuinely reachable.