Golden Boy 2023: Bellingham & Musiala headline 100-player long list
Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala are the headline names on the 100-player long list announced for the 2023 Golden Boy award.
The Golden Boy award was created by Italian publication Tuttosport in 2003 to recognise the best under-21 footballers currently plying their trade in Europe. Past winners of the prestigious award include Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and last year's winner Gavi.
This year 100 players have been longlisted for the award, with eight English players nominated. New Real Madrid signing Bellingham has been given the nod, as has Liverpool's Harvey Elliott, Manchester City's Rico Lewis, Chelsea's Levi Colwill, Borussia Dortmund's Jamie Bynoe Glittens, Juventus' Samuel Illing-Junior, and Chelsea duo Lewis Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka.
Currently, England international Bellingham is second in the 'Golden Boy Rating' rankings created by Football Benchmark this year, trailing Bayern Munich star Musiala, with last year's winner Gavi trailing just behind in third place.
Rounding out the top ten candidates are defenders Antonio Silva, Alejandro Balde, Devyne Rensch and Giorgio Scalvini, midfielders Xavi Simons and Florian Wirtz and highly-rated forward Benjamin Sesko.
Golden Boy 2023 nominees
Name | Club |
|---|---|
Jamal Musiala | Bayern Munich |
Jude Bellingham | Real Madrid |
Gavi | Barcelona |
Antonio Silva | Benfica |
Alejandro Balde | Barcelona |
Xavi Simons | PSV Eindhoven |
Florian Wirtz | Bayer Leverkusen |
Benjamin Sesko | RB Salzburg |
Devyne Rensch | Ajax |
Giorgio Scalvini | Atalanta |
Lucas Gourna-Douath | RB Salzburg |
Arthur Vermeeren | Royal Antwerp |
Rayan Cherki | Olympique Lyonnais |
Harvey Elliott | Liverpool |
Milos Kerkez | AZ Alkmaar |
Rasmus Hojlund | Atalanta |
Rico Lewis | Manchester City |
Arnau Martinez | Girona |
Emanuel Emegha | SK Sturm Graz |
Elias Jelert | FC Copenhagen |
Stefan Bajcetic | Liverpool |
Martin Baturina | Dinamo Zagreb |
Levi Colwill | Chelsea |
Warren Zaire-Emery | Paris Saint-Germain |
Martin Vitik | Sparta Praha |
Ernest Nuamah | FC Nordsjaelland |
Ismael Doukoure | RC Strasbourg |
Zeno Debast | Anderlecht |
Bjorn Meijer | Club Brugge |
Johan Bakayoko | PSV Eindhoven |
Mathys Tel | Bayern Munich |
Alejandro Garnacho | Manchester United |
Oleksandr Saputin | Zorya Lugansk |
Robert Renan | Zenit St. Petersburg |
Ariel Mosor | Piast Gliwice |
Hugo Larsson | Eintracht Frankfurt |
Matija Frigan | HNK Rijeka |
Maurits Kjaergaard | RB Salzburg |
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens | Borussia Dortmund |
Fabio Mirretti | Juventus |
Amane Romeo | BK Hacken |
Bilal El Khannous | KRC Genk |
Pavlo Isenko | Vorskla Poltava |
Evan Ferguson | Brighton |
Andy Diouf | FC Basel |
Veljko Ilic | TSC Backa Topola |
Christos Zafeiris | Norway |
Julio Enciso | Brighton |
El Chadaille Bitshiabu | Paris Saint-Germain |
Hakon Haraldsson | FC Copenhagen |
Lesley Ugochukwu | Stade Rennais |
Stefan Lekovic | Crvena zvezda |
William Clem | FC Copenhagen |
Maksym Dyachuk | Dynamo Kyiv |
Aurele Amenda | BSC Young Boys |
Valdemar Lund | FC Copenhagen |
Sael Kumbedi | Olympique Lyonnais |
Johan Bangsbo | IFK Goteborg |
Bonsu Baah | Sarpsborg 08 FF |
Tommaso Baldanzi | Empoli |
Peter Ratkov | RB Salzburg |
Joao Neves | Benfica |
Viktor Melekhin | FC Rostov |
Lucas Hey | Lyngby BK |
Youssoufa Moukoko | Borussia Dortmund |
Elye Wahi | Montpellier |
Romeo Lavia | Southampton |
Victor Lind | IFK Norrkoping |
Oscar Gloukh | RB Salzburg |
Wilfried Gnonto | Leeds United |
Noah Persson | BSC Young Boys |
Filip Sidklev | IF Brommapojkarna |
Otto Rosengren | Mjallby AIF |
Tim Oermann | Wolfsberger AC |
Arne Engels | FC Augsburg |
Mathias Lovik | Molde FK |
Marcus Baggesen | IFK Norrkoping |
Arda Guler | Fenerbahce |
Kacper Kozlowski | Vitesse / Brighton |
Isaak Toure | AJ Auxerre |
Alexander Busch | Silkeborg IF |
Ervin Omic | Wolfsberger AC |
Tobias Slotsager | Odense Boldklub |
Luka Stojkovic | NK Lotomotiva Zagreb |
Mouhamadou Diarra | RC Strasbourg |
Facundo Buonanotte | Brighton |
Kevin Kelsy | Shakhtar Donetsk |
Arsen Zakharyan | FC Dinamo Moskva |
Valentin Carboni | Inter |
Odin Holm | Valerenga Fotball |
Mohamed-Ali Cho | Real Sociedad |
Samuel Illing-Junior | Juventus |
Desire Doue | Stade Rennais |
Ousmane Diomande | Sporting CP |
Lewis Hall | Chelsea |
Maximo Perrone | Manchester City |
Matias Soule | Juventus |
Carney Chukwuemeka | Chelsea |
Luca Netz | Borussia Monchengladbach |
Kevin Parades | VfL Wolfsburg |
How is the Golden Boy award decided?
The winner of the Golden Boy award is determined by votes from journalists. Each voter gives ten points to the player they think should the trophy, seven point for second, five points for third, three points for fourth and one point for fifth.
The 100-longlist will be cut to 80, 60 and 40 before a final slate of 20 players is announced later in the year.
Votes will be collated and the results revealed at an award ceremony that usually takes place in November.
READ THE LATEST NEWS, RANKINGS AND EXPLAINERS FOR THE 2023 GOLDEN BOY AWARD
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