Golden Boy Award: Where Past Winners Are Now and Who Could Win in 2025

The Golden Boy award will soon crown another future king of world football.

But who will join past winners like Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and Kylian Mbappe among the next generation of Golden Boys? What is the award all about? And what happened to the former winners who have since grown up?

FootballBlog.co.uk answers those questions below.

What is the Golden Boy award?

The Golden Boy award was created in 2003 by Italian newspaper Tuttosport. It is voted for by journalists across Europe, including representatives from outlets such as L’Equipe, Marca, The Times, and Bild.

The award recognises the best under-21 footballer playing in one of Europe’s top leagues during a calendar year.

It was originally talked about as a potential springboard toward future Ballon d’Or success. However, so far Lionel Messi is the only Golden Boy winner to go on and claim that title — although 2024 Golden Boy Lamine Yamal was just pipped to the 2025 Ballon d’Or by Ousmane Dembele.

Who is eligible for the Golden Boy award?

To be considered, players must be under the age of 21 on January 1 of the award year and play for a club in one of the top European leagues. Performances across domestic and international competitions are taken into account.

Crucially, a player cannot win the Golden Boy award twice. That is why 2024 winner Lamine Yamal is not eligible to defend his title in 2025.

Which players have been nominated for the 2025 Golden Boy award?

Nine Premier League players have been nominated for the 2025 Golden Boy award.

They are Arsenal duo Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, Chelsea pair Estevao and Jorrel Hato, Manchester United defender Leny Yoro, Liverpool’s Giovanni Leoni, Manchester City full-back Nico O’Reilly and Tottenham midfielders Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray.

Those nine are joined by leading talents from Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Sporting CP, while Borussia Dortmund’s Jobe Bellingham (pictured above) features among the wildcard entries.

The main shortlist consists of 20 official nominees selected by Tuttosport and its media partners. The additional five players are classed as wildcards — extra selections outside the core shortlist, chosen after standout breakthroughs or rapid development.

Wildcards are eligible to win the award but start outside the initial pool of favourites.

Four players on the 25-boy shortlist also feature in our recent list of five Champions League wonderkids to watch this season.

Full list of 2025 Golden Boy award nominees

Player	Club	Category
Pau Cubarsi	Barcelona	Nominee
Desire Doue	PSG	Nominee
Kenan Yildiz	Juventus	Nominee
Myles Lewis-Skelly	Arsenal	Nominee
Warren Zaire-Emery	PSG	Nominee
Senny Mayulu	PSG	Nominee
Arda Guler	Real Madrid	Nominee
Franco Mastantuono	Real Madrid	Nominee
Dean Huijsen	Real Madrid	Nominee
Ethan Nwaneri	Arsenal	Nominee
Estevao	Chelsea	Nominee
Geovany Quenda	Sporting	Nominee
Victor Froholdt	Porto	Nominee
Nico O’Reilly	Man City	Nominee
Eliesse Ben Seghir	Leverkusen	Nominee
Leny Yoro	Man United	Nominee
Lucas Bergvall	Tottenham	Nominee
Archie Gray	Tottenham	Nominee
Mamadou Sarr	Strasbourg	Nominee
Jorrel Hato	Chelsea	Nominee
Jobe Bellingham	Dortmund	Wildcard
Francesco Pio Esposito	Inter	Wildcard
Giovanni Leoni	Liverpool	Wildcard
Aleksandar Stankovic	Club Bruges	Wildcard
Rodrigo Mora	Porto	Wildcard

Which players have won the Golden Boy award in the past?

The list of former Golden Boy winners features some huge names. Rafael van der Vaart was the first winner back in 2003, followed by Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney in the next two years.

Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Aguero, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal are also among the famous former winners. The table below lists all previous winners, along with their current status.

Where are the Golden Boy winners now?

Year	Winner	Age Now	Retired?	Current Club	Trophies
2003	Rafael van der Vaart	42	Yes	n/a	6
2004	Wayne Rooney	39	Yes	n/a	16
2005	Lionel Messi	38	No	Inter Miami	45
2006	Cesc Fabregas	38	Yes	n/a	16
2007	Sergio Aguero	37	Yes	n/a	17
2008	Anderson	37	Yes	n/a	16
2009	Alexandre Pato	36	Yes	n/a	9
2010	Mario Balotelli	35	No	n/a	8
2011	Mario Gotze	33	No	Frankfurt	15
2012	Isco	33	No	Real Betis	18
2013	Paul Pogba	32	No	Monaco	12
2014	Raheem Sterling	30	No	Chelsea	11
2015	Anthony Martial	29	No	Monterrey	5
2016	Renato Sanches	28	No	Panathinaikos	10
2017	Kylian Mbappe	26	No	Real Madrid	20
2018	Matthijs de Ligt	26	No	Man United	7
2019	Joao Felix	25	No	Al-Nassr	5
2020	Erling Haaland	25	No	Man City	9
2021	Pedri	22	No	Barcelona	8
2022	Gavi	21	No	Barcelona	6
2023	Jude Bellingham	22	No	Real Madrid	6
2024	Lamine Yamal	18	No	Barcelona	5

As the Golden Boy award was established more than 20 years ago, the early winners are boys no more. Several of them have already retired, including Rafael van der Vaart, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas, Alexandre Pato, Anderson and Sergio Aguero.

Most notable of those still playing is 2005 winner Lionel Messi, who many consider to be the greatest footballer of all time. Messi has won 45 major trophies across his career with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and Argentina, including four Champions Leagues and the 2022 World Cup.

Other Golden Boy recipients who went on to lift the World Cup include Cesc Fabregas, Mario Gotze, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe.

The more recent winners — such as Pedri, Gavi, Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal — will all be hoping to follow in their footsteps next summer. Pedri, Gavi and Yamal are expected to represent Spain at the 2026 World Cup in North America.

Spain were recently given an 18.18% probability of winning the World Cup, while Bellingham’s England were given a 12.5% chance.