Golden Boy (award)


The Golden Boy is an award that is given by sports journalists to a young footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year. All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European nation's top tier.

Selection

The prize was established by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport in 2003. Newspapers that now participate in voting include Bild, Blick, A Bola, l'Équipe, France Football, Marca, Mundo Deportivo, Ta Nea, Sport Express, De Telegraaf, and The Times. Each juror is allowed to nominate five players, the juror will allocate 10 points to the player that they perceive as the most impressive, 7 for second, 5 third, 3 fourth, and 1 point for fifth most impressive.

Winners

YearWinnerClubPositionBirth yearRef
2003 Rafael van der Vaart AjaxMidfielder1983
2004 Wayne Rooney Everton
Manchester United
Forward1985
2005 Lionel Messi BarcelonaForward1987
2006 Cesc Fàbregas ArsenalMidfielder1987
2007 Sergio Agüero Atlético MadridForward1988
2008 Anderson Manchester UnitedMidfielder1988
2009 Alexandre Pato MilanForward1989
2010 Mario Balotelli Inter Milan
Manchester City
Forward1990
2011 Mario Götze Borussia DortmundMidfielder1992
2012 Isco MálagaMidfielder1992
2013 Paul Pogba JuventusMidfielder1993
2014 Raheem Sterling LiverpoolForward1994
2015 Anthony Martial Monaco
Manchester United
Forward1995
2016 Renato Sanches Benfica
Bayern Munich
Midfielder1997
2017 Kylian Mbappé Monaco
Paris Saint-Germain
Forward1998
2018 Matthijs de Ligt AjaxDefender1999
2019 João Félix Benfica
Atlético Madrid
Forward1999

Awards won by position

PositionWin
Forward9
Midfielder7
Defender1

Awards won by nationality

CountryWinYear
France32013, 2015, 2017
Netherlands22003, 2018
England22004, 2014
Argentina22005, 2007
Spain22006, 2012
Brazil22008, 2009
Portugal22016, 2019
Italy12010
Germany12011

Awards won by club

Year in bold have shared the win with other clubs.
ClubWinYear
Manchester United32004, 2008, 2015
Monaco22015, 2017
Ajax22003, 2018
Atlético Madrid22007, 2019
Benfica22016, 2019
Everton12004
Barcelona12005
Arsenal12006
Milan12009
Manchester City12010
Inter Milan12010
Borussia Dortmund12011
Málaga12012
Juventus12013
Liverpool12014
Bayern Munich12016
Paris Saint-Germain12017