The favourites to win the Golden Boy 2023 award - ranked
- 100-player longlist whittled down to just 20 youngsters
- Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham the overwhelming favourite
- Man Utd's Rasmus Hojlund remains in the running
By Euan Burns
There's a growing number of individual prizes in football these days and one that certainly carries some weight is the Golden Boy award.
It's a very wide-reaching award, started by Italian newspaper Tuttosport in 2003 to name one Under-21 footballer as the best in any given year. Some massive names have taken the award in the past, including Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi.
A longlist of 100 players was announced and that was cut to 80, then 60, 40 and finally 20. The winner is determined by votes from journalists, with each voter giving ten points to their first pick, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth.
Votes are collated and the results revealed at an award ceremony in November. Here are the ten players, in order, we think have the best chance of winning the award from the final 20.
Golden Boy 2023 favourites - ranked
10. Evan Ferguson - Brighton
The Irishman has quickly become one of the most coveted strikers in the Premier League with many big clubs plotting a move for him behind the scenes.
He has four Premier League goals in 2023/24 already despite not always starting for the Seagulls and whilst he isn't expected to win this award, he deserves to be in the conversation.
9. Rasmus Hojlund - Manchester United
It was a breakout season for Rasmus Hojlund at Atalanta, having arrived from Austrian side Sturm Graz for €17.2m last summer. The Serie A club made a huge profit when he joined Manchester United.
Injury meant he could not hit the ground running straight away at Man Utd. He has now gotten amongst the goals and looks like he could be a great fit, but it is not enough to make him a serious contender to win the award.
8. Antonio Silva - Benfica
A young defender who really announced themselves during the 2022/23 season and the 2022 World Cup, Antonio Silva looks like he could be one of the best young defenders in Europe for a long time. It's not always easy to choose just one young star of a Benfica team, but he looks like the closest to winning the Golden Boy award.
He ended up playing 44 games and scored a very impressive five goals last season. Benfica don't look quite as good this season and whilst he is in the mix, it is hard for a defender to win this when you look at the attackers on show.
7. Xavi Simons - RB Leipzig
Xavi Simons has taken an unusual career path but had a frankly ridiculous season with PSV in 2022/23, scoring 19 times from midfield and getting nine assists in the Eredivisie. He started 100% of their games and is now a serious player.
That led to the RB Leipzig move, one that looks wise given he has three goals and four assists in the Bundesliga so far this season. Simons is certainly worthy of being in the mix for this award and may not be at Leipzig for long.
6. Florian Wirtz - Bayer Leverkusen
Florian Wirtz is a name that rose to serious prominence a couple of years ago before fading away again. He suffered a serious injury and the world moved on while he recovered, but he is back in the thick of the action and has picked up where he left off.
Wirtz managed to play 25 games last season for Bayer Leverkusen, scoring four times and getting eight assists. His name already carries some weight and coming back from a cruciate ligament rupture so young shows impressive mental strength, something the journalists may consider.
He is now a vital part of Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen side which is topping the Bundesliga.
5. Benjamin Sesko - RB Leipzig
Benjamin Sesko is a name that burst into the footballing discourse whilst at RB Salzburg and then went quiet again when he made the predictable move to RB Leipzig.
He has started the season in the Bundesliga well, though, and it is the early form that has likely carried him into the final 20 of this award. He has five goals across all competitions but it is his general forward play that promises so much, the figures will come.
4. Alejandro Balde - Barcelona
Very much the star of the second half of Barcelona's 2022/23 season, Alejandro Balde has well and truly made the left-back spot his own at the Blaugrana. The 19-year-old ended up playing 44 times during the 2022/23 season.
He has made Barcelona fans forget all about Jordi Alba and saved the club from having to enter the market for a full-back on both sides rather than just the right. He is a constant starter again in 2023/24, consistently performing well.
3. Warren Zaire-Emery - Paris Saint-Germain
Things might not seem very positive at Paris Saint-Germain right now, but the bright spot is certainly the rise to prominence of Warren Zaire-Emery.
At just 17 years old, Zaire-Emery has turned himself into an undroppable midfielder for Luis Enrique. He may not be among the goals, but he has three assists across Ligue 1 and the Champions League and he is performing with a maturity well beyond his years.
Perhaps most importantly, he is a welcome link between the fans and the first team as he is seemingly adored by those in the stands.
2. Jamal Musiala - Bayern Munich
Earlier in the process, Jamal Musiala seemed like a more logical pick than Jude Bellingham to be the winner, but the start the Englishman has made at Real Madrid cannot be ignored.
Musiala scored 12 times and grabbed 13 assists in the Bundesliga last season and also impressed at the World Cup with Germany, despite the team's overall poor showing. He is one of the best forwards in Europe but his start to 2023/24 has not been exhilarating. He is still a special talent, though.
1. Jude Bellingham - Real Madrid
It is almost guaranteed that Jude Bellingham this award. The England international has signed for Real Madrid and quickly made himself, at least on form, the best player in the world.
He has got eight goals and two assists in his first eight La Liga games and he has also bagged two goals and an assist in the Champions League. He is outperforming everyone else in the sport right now.