Italian newspaper Tuttosport have announced an initial list of 100 young players nominated for its annual Golden Boy award.
Five players from FC Barcelona, including last season’s winner Pedri and this season’s emergent talent Gavi, have been shortlisted among the 100 players nominated for the Tuttosport Golden Boy award.
The award, running since 2003, has seen some extraordinary footballers winning since 2003. While Ajax playmaker Rafael van der Vaart was the inaugural winner, players like Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero, Cesc Fabregas, Raheem Sterling and Paul Pogba.
Although he ended up missing a majority of the season due to injury, Spain and Barcelona star midfielder Pedri finds himself nominated once again. He received the award last year, succeeding Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland in 2020.
Pedri’s teammates Gavi, Ansu Fati, Nico Gonzalez and Alejandro Balde are also included in the shortlist. Gavi is one of the favourites to win the award this year after making his breakthrough last season. He has since established himself as a regular in the Barcelona team as well as in the Spanish national team and has created history as a 17-year-old.
He scored two goals and also provided six assists in 46 matches across all competitions since making his Barcelona debut. Gavi has also worn the Spanish national team colours on eight occasions and also scored his first international goal in the UEFA Nations League recently.
Borussia Dortmund’s English midfielder Jude Bellingham is another player who is widely tipped to win the award.
The dynamic midfield maestro made 44 appearances for the German club last season and has also broke into the England squad ahead of the all-important World Cup later this year. Bellingham also shared a great partnership with the winner of the 2020 Golden Boy award Haaland.
The award is said to be open to any player in the world under the age of 21. No player in history has won the Tuttosport Golden Boy award more than once and it will be interesting to see whether Pedri is able to break that streak. Kylian Mbappe, Matthijs De Ligt, Joao Felix and Haaland are some of the other recent recipients of this prestigious honour.
