Women's Footballer of the Year contender Graham Hansen

Age: 29 Position: Winger Teams: Barcelona and Norway

Often considered as one of the most underrated players in world football, Caroline Graham Hansen grabbed fans' attention during a stellar 2023-24 season.

The crafty winger, who is known for dancing past defenders, has struggled with injury throughout her career but she starred on all fronts for Barcelona over the past 12 months.

As the Spanish side wrapped up a historic quadruple, the Graham Hansen racked up an incredible 60 goal contributions in just 40 games.

She finished the Liga F campaign, in which Barca won a fifth straight title, as the golden boot winner with 21 goals and 19 assists.

Graham Hansen eclipsed her team-mate Salma Paralluelo by one goal and was eight assists better than anyone else in the league.

She scored some critical goals too, with her second-half strike against Chelsea ultimately taking Barcelona into the Champions League final, while a hat-trick in the final of the Supercopa helped her side beat Levante.

Graham Hansen in her own words

What was her favourite moment from last season?

"The highlight must be the Champions League. Bilbao was a surreal experience. Not only did we win but we were able to do it in front of our own fans, even though it was not in Barcelona. Everybody took the trip to Bilbao.

"I haven't always been able to contribute in the finals because of injuries, illness, or bad luck. It was a nice feeling to be able to contribute in the final and then you win; it is the most important thing."

Why she feels it is important to use her platform to speak about LGBT+ rights?

"The world is not an easy place for many people. We only play football, and if you can use your voice to make a small difference in the big chaos of the world, it's the least you can do because we're all humans.

"It makes me very sad and just feel a bit hopeless about the world when I see that people get treated so poorly. Just because of who they are or where they come from and or what they do. Yeah, it hurts me."

What was it like being Liga F's top scorer and assist maker last season?

"I've always scored in the big moments, but maybe the consistency of scoring all the way through the seasons, has not always been there.

"It's basically just being in the box at the right time. We will score goals and when you mentally work on that over a long period of time, suddenly it clicks and then you get chances and then you score goals because you have the quality."

How would she like to see women's football develop?

"There are so many girls now out there that want to become a footballer, that want to pursue their dreams.

"This is the beautiful thing, visibility gives us the possibility to be role models for the next generation and give them hopes and dreams of doing the same.

"And they will be lucky. They will have it 10 times, if not 100 times better than we had it. And this is the goal. We keep growing in this speed and direction."

'She is one of the rare ones'

Barcelona and Spain defender Irene Paredes: "She is one of the best players in the world."

Graham Hansen's former Wolfsburg team-mate Ella Masa: "She is one of the rare ones, you cannot teach what she has."

Last season's achievements

What else should you know?

• Her childhood hero was Barcelona forward Rivaldo

• She almost quit football in 2018 aged just 23 because of injuries

• In 2022 she took a break from international football aged 27 because of heart problems and fatigue

• Graham Hansen often uses her social media channels to educate and fight for equality