Golden Boy 2022: Confirmed nominees

Tuttosport have released their 100-player shortlist for the 2022 Golden Boy award, with ten Premier League starlets among the talents to be recognised.

The award rewards the best player under 21 in a calendar year and has been won by several legends of the modern game.

Current holder Pedri is up for the award again, while Barcelona teammates Nico and Gavi are also shortlisted. Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala and Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham are also in the group of nominees.

From the Premier League, Harvey Elliott and Adam Diallo are included, as are Fabio Silva, Ki-Jana Hoever, Pape Matar Sarr, Yan Couto, Kacper Kozlowski and Joe Gelhardt.


Golden Boy 2022: Confirmed nominees

  • Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund)
  • Felix Afena-Gyan (Roma)
  • Lucien Agoume (Inter)
  • Anouar Ait El Hadj (Anderlecht)
  • Janis Antiste (Spezia)
  • Alejandro Balde (Barcelona)
  • Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
  • Stipe Biuk (HNK Hajduk Split)
  • Edoardo Bove (Roma)
  • Jayden Braaf (Borussia Dortmund)
  • Brian Brobbey (Ajax)
  • Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)
  • Rayan Cherki (Lyon)
  • Mohamed-Ali Cho (Angers)
  • Francisco Conceicao (Porto)
  • Yan Couto (Manchester City)
  • Mohamed Daramy (Ajax)
  • Amar Dedic (Red Bull Salzburg)
  • Amad Diallo (Manchester United)
  • Diego Moreira (Benfica)
  • Jeremy Doku (Rennes)
  • Radu Dragusin (Juventus)
  • Hugo Ekitike (Reims)
  • Anthony Elanga (Manchester United)
  • Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
  • Sebastiano Esposito (Inter)
  • Maxime Esteve (Montpellier)
  • Fabio Carvalho (Liverpool)
  • Fabio Silva (Wolves)
  • Ansu Fati (Barcelona)
  • Gavi (Barcelona)
  • Joe Gelhardt (Leeds)
  • Wilfried Gnonto (Zurich)
  • Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich)
  • Malo Gusto (Lyon)
  • Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig)
  • Henrique Araujo (Benfica)
  • Aaron Hickey (Bologna)
  • Piero Hincapie (Bayer Leverkusen)
  • Adam Hlozek (Bayer Leverkusen)
  • Ki-Jana Hoever (Wolves)
  • Ilaix Moriba (RB Leipzig)
  • Joelson Fernandes (Sporting CP)
  • Isak Bergmann Johannesson (Copenhagen)
  • Nemanja Jovic (Partizan Belgrade)
  • Arnaud Kalimuendo (Paris Saint-Germain)
  • Jakub Kaminski (Wolfsburg)
  • Ansgar Knauff (Borussia Dortmund)
  • Kacper Kozlowski (Brighton)
  • Isaac Lihadji (Lille)
  • Castello Lukeba (Lyon)
  • Noni Madueke (PSV Eindhoven)
  • Eliot Matazo (Monaco)
  • Nathanael Mbuku (Reims)
  • Fabio Miretti (Juventus)
  • Youssoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund)
  • Yunus Musah (Valencia)
  • Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
  • Cher Ndour (Benfica)
  • Luca Netz (Borussia Monchengladbach)
  • Tanguy Nianzou (Bayern Munich)
  • Nico (Barcelona)
  • Nico Williams (Athletic Club)
  • Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain)
  • Becir Omeragic (Zurich)
  • Simone Pafundi (Udinese)
  • Matias Palacios (Basel)
  • Paulo Bernardo (Benfica)
  • Pedri (Barcelona)
  • Yeremi Pino (Villarreal)
  • Devyne Rensch (Ajax)
  • Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund)
  • Fabian Rieder (Young Boys)
  • Rodrigo Ribeiro (Sporting CP)
  • Luka Romero (Lazio)
  • Georginio Rutter (Hoffenheim)
  • Lazar Samardzic (Udinese)
  • Cisse Sandra (Club Brugge)
  • Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham)
  • Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach)
  • Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta)
  • Benjamin Sesko (Reb Bull Salzburg)
  • Brandon Soppy (Udinese)
  • Matias Soule (Juventus)
  • Filip Stevanovic (Manchester City)
  • Luka Sucic (Red Bull Salzburg)
  • Kamaldeen Sulemana (Rennes)
  • Tomas Suslov (Groningen)
  • Jan Thielmann (Koln)
  • Tiago Tomas (Sporting CP)
  • Malik Tillman (Bayern Munich)
  • Destiny Udogie (Hellas Verona)
  • Maarten Vandevoordt (Genk)
  • Aster Vranckx (Wolfsburg)
  • Elye Wahi (Montpellier)
  • Illya Zabarnyi (Dynamo Kyiv)
  • Nicola Zalewski (Roma)

Who has won the Golden Boy award?

Starting in 2003, Tuttosport have displayed a decent eye for talent with their Golden Boy picks. Rafa van der Vaart was their inaugural pick and all was rosy in the following years as they pluged for Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Aguero.

They hit a bit of a rut when they dished out awards to Anderson, Alexandre Pato and Mario Balotelli - all of whom have endured disappointing careers - before Isco brought a little more prestige back to the prize,

  • 2003 - Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax)
  • 2004 - Wayne Rooney (Everton/Manchester United)
  • 2005 - Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
  • 2006 - Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
  • 2007 - Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid)
  • 2008 - Anderson (Manchester United)
  • 2009 - Alexandre Pato (AC Milan)
  • 2010 - Mario Balotelli (Inter/Manchester City)
  • 2011 - Mario Gotze (Borussia Dortmund)
  • 2012 - Isco (Malaga)
  • 2013 - Paul Pogba (Juventus)
  • 2014 - Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)
  • 2015 - Anthony Martial (Monaco/Manchester United)
  • 2016 - Renato Sanches (Benfica/Bayern Munich)
  • 2017 - Kylian Mbappe (Monaco/Paris Saint-Germain)
  • 2018 - Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax)
  • 2019 - Joao Felix (Benfica/Atletico Madrid)
  • 2020 - Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
  • 2021 - Pedri (Barcelona)

Which club has won the Golden Boy award the most?

Thanks to wins from Wayne Rooney, Anderson and Anthony Martial, Manchester United currently boast the most winners of the Golden Boy award with three.

Straggling behind in second are the likes of Juventus, Ajax, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Monaco and Benfica, all of whom have


How is the Golden Boy award decided?

The winner of the Golden Boy award is determined by votes from journalists representing different newspaper and media outlets. Each voter gives ten points to the player they deem the most impressive, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth.

The initial 100-player shortlist has been released and it will be cut to 80, 60 and 40 before a final slate of 20 players is announced.

Votes will be collated and the results revealed at an award ceremony that usually takes place in November.


Source : 90min