The Golden Boy Award for the best U-21 player in Europe is a prestigious award presented by the Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport. On Wednesday, the editors published the list of 100 candidates for this year, including nine from the Bundesliga
Who will succeed Jude Bellingham? The ex-Dortmund player won the coveted award last November ahead of Jamal Musiala and joins the ranks of previous winners such as Lionel Messi (2005), Mario Götze (2011), Kylian Mbappé (2017) and Erling Haaland (2020). The current favorite is Lamine Yamal, the just 16-year-old FC Barcelona midfielder. He leads the Tuttosport ranking.
The publication took place in the usual festive setting at the estate of fashion designer Brunello Cucinelli in the picturesque Umbrian village of Solomeo near Perugia. Gigi Buffon did the honors and shared his memories of the legend Gianni Riva, who passed away at the beginning of the year, in a panel discussion.
Bojan Krkic (33), who came fourth in the 2008 poll, gave an insight into the concept of Barcelona’s youth academy La Masia. And for good reason: Yamal, the favorite from the Golden Boys, plays for Barca, which is the only club, together with Brighton & Hove Albion, to have four players in the top 100. Joao Neves of Benfica Lisbon currently occupies second place ahead of Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United. PSG midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery follows behind
Nine candidates from the Bundesliga
And the Bundesliga? With Bellingham, Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Xavi Simons, it was highly prominent and far ahead last year, all of whom are now too old. Nine Bundesliga professionals, including seven who are eligible to play for the DFB, are among the candidates. That puts the Bundesliga in fifth place behind the leagues of France (16 professionals), Belgium (12), England and Spain (11 each). Seven Germans are as many as the English and Belgians, while Spain has eight. Unsurprisingly, France is also top here with eleven.
The current best Bundesliga professional is Aleksandar Pavlovic in ninth place, two places ahead of Mathys Tel, his team-mate at FC Bayern. Two Dortmund players, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (16th) and Youssoufa Moukoko (23rd), follow from a Bundesliga perspective.
Frankfurt’s Hugo Larsson (35th), Cologne’s Max Finkgräfe (44th), Mainz’s Brajan Gruda (48th) and Hoffenheim’s Tim Drexler (86th) and Umut Tohumcu (96th) are the others. The criteria for the ranking are sporting achievements, playing time, the strength of the respective club and performances in the national team and the Champions League.
Shortening the list
From now on, the list will be shortened by 20 players on the 15th of each month. In mid-October, 20 remain, from which 40 European journalists from specialist soccer magazines choose the winner. In 2023, Musiala led for a long time before he was overtaken on the home straight by Bellingham, who only really came into his own after his move to Real Madrid. And this time? Advantage for the professionals who can make an impression at the European Championship or in the premier class in late summer
