Golden Boy Award: Previous winners, rules and nominees

• The nominees for the 2023 Golden Boy Award have been announced with 100 young players named
• The award is granted to players who are 20 years old or younger during the year they win
• We take a look at previous winners of the award and the nominees for the 2023 award

While it may have its critics, the Golden Boy Award has blossomed into an international affair, with journalists from across Europe voting for the best young male footballer of the calendar year.

Here’s everything you need to know about the baby Ballon d’Or.

Which players are eligible for the Golden Boy Award?

The Golden Boy Award is given to players who are 20 years old or younger during the year they win. While the initial list of nominees is announced in June, the award is intended to reflect players’ performances throughout the entire calendar year.

Any player, regardless of nationality, can win the award as long as they are playing in the top league of a European country. Historically, winners have mostly come from UEFA nations, with every recipient since 2010 being European.

The Golden Boy winner is determined by a panel of journalists from England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland.

Each journalist selects and ranks five players, assigning points on a scale from ten for the top choice, seven for second place, five for third, three for fourth, and one point for fifth. The player with the highest total points is crowned the Golden Boy.

Which players have won the Golden Boy Award?

Lionel Messi holds the distinction of being the only player to have won both the Golden Boy and the Ballon d’Or. He secured the Golden Boy prize in 2005 and then claimed the prestigious Ballon d’Or four years later, starting his remarkable run of seven victories. However, Kylian Mbappe (2017) and Erling Haaland (2020) have also won the Golden Boy Award. While Messi is the favourite to win the senior Ballon d’Or again in 2023, it is highly likely that either Mbappe or Haaland will complete the set at some point.

Messi earned the Golden Boy title in 2005 when he turned 18. It took until 2022 for another 18-year-old, Gavi, to be recognized as the best young player in Europe. Gavi had already made history as the youngest player to debut for the Spanish national team in the previous year, facing Italy. Emerson Palmieri, an Italian defender, admitted that he was unfamiliar with Gavi at the time, but soon the young talent gained widespread recognition.

Barcelona youngster Gavi won the 2022 Golden Boy Award at the age of 18. | PHOTO: FC Barcelona |

READ: Pablo Gavi biography, salary and net worth

Previous recipients of the Golden Boy Award, such as Wayne Rooney, Messi, Cesc Fabregas, and Sergio Aguero, undoubtedly fulfilled their potential. However, not all Golden Boy winners have blossomed into equally impressive figures.

The Brazilian pair of Anderson and Alexandre Pato won the award consecutively in 2008 and 2009 while playing for Manchester United and Milan, respectively. However, both players left Europe before the age of 30, well after their peak years.

Benfica cleverly capitalized on the exceptional talents of Renato Sanches and Joao Felix before transferring them to Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, respectively. The two academy graduates were sold for a combined sum exceeding €150 million in the same year they were crowned Golden Boy. However, both players have faced significant struggles in recapturing their initial brilliance.

2023 Nominees

A total of 100 players have been included in the preliminary list for the 2023 Golden Boy Award. Among the top contenders are Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala, who previously represented England at the youth level and have been performing well in the Bundesliga.

Gavi has the opportunity to make history by becoming the first player to win the Golden Boy Award twice. The young midfielder would still be eligible for the award in 2024.

Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United has the potential to become the first player from the Premier League to win the Golden Boy since his teammate Anthony Martial. However, it should be noted that Martial joined Manchester United midway through 2015 from Monaco in Ligue 1. Monaco had included a bonus clause in the deal with United, contingent on Martial winning the Ballon d’Or, but unfortunately, no such stipulation was made for the junior version of the award.