One of football’s most prestigious awards, given to a player who has displayed one of the finest performances at a young age. The Golden Boy Award is only given to players who are younger than the age of 21 and play in Europe’s top leagues. Many young players have contended for this recognised football prize over the years, and thanks to football, we will continue to see such young talents making an impression at such a young age.

The award was established in 2003 by the Italian newspaper Tuttosport, with sports journalists from all over Europe selecting the most promising young talent. Barcelona duo Pedri and Gavi bagged the award in two successive calendar years, respectively, 2021 and 2022.

This time around, we have witnessed the emergence of another Barca talent, after the 2023 one went to Real Madrid‘s Jude Bellingham.

We now take a look at all the Golden Boy winners

 2003 – Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax)

2004 – Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

2005 – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

2006 – Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

2007 – Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid) 

2008 – Anderson (Manchester United) 

2009 – Alexander Pato (AC Milan)

2010 – Mario Balotelli (AC Milan and Manchester City) 

2011 – Mario Gotze (Borussia Dortmund) 

2012 – Isco (Real Madrid)

2013 – Paul Pogba (Juventus)

2014 – Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) 

2015 – Anthony Martial (Monaco and Manchester United)

2016- Renato Sanches (Benfica and Bayern Munich)

2017- Kylian Mbappe (Monaco and PSG)

2018 – Matthis de Ligit (Ajax) 

2019 – Joao Felix (Benfica and Atletico Madrid)

2020 – Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)

2021 – Pedri (Barcelona)

2022 – Gavi (Barcelona)

2023 – Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)

2024 – Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

2025 – Desire Doue (PSG)

2026 – Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona)

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