Everton midfielder named one of Europe’s best young players alongside Man City and Barcelona teens

The 19-year-old is just one of two Women’s Super League players whose name is on the final shortlist for Italian newspaper TuttoSport’s inaugural Golden Girl award.

Bennison and Manchester City’s Australian forward Mary Fowler are in the first cohort of players to be given the prestigious accolade after TuttoSport set up the ‘sister’ award to mark the 20th anniversary of their Golden Boy award, which has previously been won by the likes of then-Blues striker Wayne Rooney and Erling Haaland.

An initial shortlist of fifteen players of any nationality born after January 1 2002 was released last month before being whittled down to ten by a jury of more than 40 journalists from Europe’s most respected newspapers, including l'Équipe, Marca, and Bild.

After eight-time Champions League holders Olympique Lyon made early enquiries into the youngster’s services while the Swede was still a schoolgirl playing at FC Rosengård, Everton pulled off a huge coup when they secured her signature in August 2021, paying a world record fee for a teenager reported by Aftonbladet to be between £120,000 and £185,000.

The investment quickly paid off - across the 2021/2022 season, Bennison was the only Toffees player to appear in all 29 games and was awarded the Supporters’ Club’s Young Player of the Season award.

Former Blues manager Willie Kirk said of the youngster: “She was such a good learner, always looking to improve different aspects of her game and such a hard worker.

“She has terrific balance, very quick feet and can get herself out of tight situations.

“Her awareness is a joke for someone so young. She sees things now that some of the most experienced players around will never see and she is very explosive over the first few yards.”

Over the summer, Bennison played in all five Euro 2022 games as Sweden reached the semi-final of the tournament, notably stepping off the bench to score a memorable goal to give her national side a group stage win over Switzerland.

Under new manager Brian Sorensen, Bennison has featured in all of Everton’s WSL games this term, and bagged another goal to remember in the Blues’ 3-0 Merseyside derby win at Anfield.

Bennison is a talent whose star has been on the rise for some time now, and TuttoSport’s recognition of the Swede’s ability only confirms how smart a signing Everton’s recruitment team landed last summer.

Also listed among the top ten are Italian Juventus forward Nicole Arcangeli, French Lyon midfielder Nesrine Bahlouli, German Wolfsburg midfielder Jule Brand, Danish FC Rosengård midfielder Sofie Bredgaard, Dutch PSV forward Esmee Brugts, Italian Roma midfielder Anastasia Ferrera, Fowler, Portuguese Benfica forward Kika Nazareth, Spanish Barcelona forward Salma Paralluelo.

From these players, the panel of journalists will select one player who is crowned their ‘absolute best’ before the end of the year.