Golden Boy: Who are the 5 favorites to win the prize?

In recent days the Italian newspaper Tuttosport revealed the list of the 20 players nominated for the Golden Boy Award, which is awarded to the best player in the U21 category. The prize, which has been awarded since 2003 and has been presented to important players such as Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, among others, will be awarded on December 16 in Turin.

As Goal explains, the winner is chosen by the technical jury, which is "highly qualified with 40 specialized journalists from around the world." In addition to an online vote, which began in mid-June when the newspaper selected 100 candidates, and although it has no relation to the final selection, it did profile the nominees.

During that process, more than 100,000 votes were registered that helped to reduce the list of nominees from 20 to 20, until reaching the last round where the winner will be selected.

Among the 20 finalists, the fact that seven are members of the Spanish League stands out, and Matthijs de Ligt, the player who was awarded the prize in 2018, has survived within the 20 finalist and has the opportunity to win again.

Despite the number of nominees, the names of potential winners are five. Here in LatinAmerican Post we show you the favorites.

1. Ansu Fati

With only 16 years, he had the opportunity to debut in the first team of Barcelona FC and be part of the initial eleven after the injuries of big stars like Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, and Ousmane Dembele. In addition to becoming the youngest debutante of the team, his skill with the ball allowed him to score two goals in the Spanish League.

However, his presence in the 20 finalists took more than one fan by surprise since Fati was not among the 100 chosen, and therefore, not in the top 40. Still, the talent of the Blaugrana striker, and who already has 59 minutes in the Champions League, made him dream one more time and is now a favorite.

2. Joao Felix

The Portuguese is undoubtedly the favorite not only by various media but by fans. He was signed by Atlético de Madrid for a sum of 126 million euros, after a stellar performance at Benfica; team in which he scored 20 goals with only 19 years.

Not only is he profiled as the next Cristiano Ronaldo, but he has been given the immense responsibility of filling Antoine Griezmann's shoes. Felix "became the first teenager to score a hat-trick in the Uefa Europe League," according to Sportskeeda.

Also read : CR700: the top 10 goals of Cristiano Ronaldo

3. Vinicius Junior

The Real Madrid quota is headed by Brazilians Vinicius and Rodrygo; who have had a very good performance in the merengue team. On the one hand, Rodrygo debuted at age 18 with a spectacular goal against Osasuna at the home of Madrid.

However, Junior has participated in 31 games, according to ESPN, in his first season at the Bernabéu, in which he had the opportunity to score four goals before he suffered an injury that would take him away from the courts in March. Now, he has recovered and hopes that Zidane will give him a new opportunity "to the skilled forward who has completed more dribbling than any other teammate in La Liga so far this season," according to Football Faithful.

4. Jadon Sancho

The English footballer stood out even more in the world of football when he decided to leave Manchester United to go play at the Borussia Dortmund belonging to the Bundesliga, where he became a star.

Not only has he been named as the Young Player of the Year of the Bundesliga, but in his three seasons he managed to score 18 goals and made 30 assists. Given his excellent participation in the German team, he was summoned to play in the English team, where he has participated ten times and has already scored twice.

5. Matthijs De Ligt

Despite having already won a Golden Boy, the current champion also sounds to repeat the award. The former Ajax captain was not intimidated by the prize, because after receiving it he continued with a good run on the Dutch team.

Leading high-level players, he managed to beat important teams like Real Madrid or Juventus, in the race for the Champions League, a triumph that managed to qualify Ajax in the quarterfinals for the first time since the 1996-97 season. Given his excellent performance, he had offers from great teams such as Liverpool, PSG, or Juventus, the latter team being chosen.