Barça leave Madrid behind in the Golden Boy awards

Tuttosport have announced the list of 100 players under the age of 21 who will be contesting the prestigious Golden Boy award. Players born from 1 January 2002 onwards will be eligible for this year’s award. Most of the candidates in the list are already well known in the football world and playing at elite clubs in Europe’s major leagues.

Among the candidates from Spanish clubs, Barcelona have five in the list - Alejandro Baldé, Ansu Fati, Gavi, Nico and Pedri. The latter is the current title holder and aiming to win the award for the second year running. This time, Barcelona are streets ahead of Real Madrid in terms of numbers - Madrid only have one player in the 100 candidates, Eduardo Camavinga. Previous years Madrid had the edge with players like Rodrygo and Vinicius - both of who are now past the age limit.

Apart from Madrid and Barça, several other Spanish clubs have players among the 100 candidates. Athletic Club have Nico Williams, while Villarreal are represented by Yeremi Pino. In total, there are eight players from LaLiga in the running for the Golden Boy award - seven of them are internationals.

The 2022 Golden Boy awards candidates

Karim Adeyemi, Borussia Dortmund

Felix Afena-Gyan, Roma

Lucien Agoumé, Inter Milan

Anouar Ait El Hadj, Anderlecht

Janis Antiste, Spezia

Alejandro Baldé, Barcelona

Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund

Stipe Biuk, Hajduk Split

Edoardo Bove, Roma

Jayden Braaf, Borussia Dortmund

Brian Brobbey, RB Leipzig

Eduardo Camavinga, Real Madrid

Matteo Cancellieri, Verona

Rayan Cherki, Olympique Lyon

Mohamed-Ali Cho, Angers

Moustapha Cissé, Atalanta

Francisco Conceição, Porto

Yan Couto, Manchester City

Mohammed Daramy, Ajax

Amar Dedic, RB Salzburg

Amad Diallo, Manchester United

Diego Moreira, Benfica

Jérémy Doku, Stade Rennes

Radu Dragusin, Juventus

Hugo Ekitike, Stade Reims

Anthony Elanga, Manchester United

Harvey Elliott, Liverpool

Sebastiano Esposito, Inter Milan

Maxime Estève, Montpellier

Fábio Carvalho, Liverpool

Fábio Silva, Wolves

Ans Fati, Barcelona

Gavi, Barcelona

Joe Gelhardt, Leeds United

Wilfried Gnonto, Zurich

Ryan Gravenberch, Bayern Munich

Malo Gusto, Olympique Lyon

Josko Gvardiol, RB Leipzig

Henrique Araújo, Benfica

Aaron Hickey, Bologna

Piero Hincapié, Bayer Leverkusen

Adam Hlozek, Bayer Leverkusen

Ki-Jana Delano, Wolves

Ilaix Moriba, RB Leipzig

Joelson Fernandes, Basel

Isak Bergmann Jóhannesson, Copenhagen

Nemanja Jovic, Partizan

Arnaud Kalimuendo, PSG

Jakub Kaminski, Wolfsburg

Ansgar Knauff, Eintracht Frankfurt

Kacper Kozlowski, Brighton

Isaac Lihadji, Lille

Castello Lukeba, Olympique Lyon

Noni Madueke, PSV

Eliot Matazo, Monaco

Nathanaël Mbuku, Stade Reims

Fabio Miretti, Juventus

Raúl Moro, Lazio

Youssoufa Moukoko, Borussia Dortmund

Jamal Musiala, Bayern Munich

Cher Ndour, Benfica

Luca Netz, Borussia Mönchengladbach

Tanguy Nianzou, Bayern Munich

Nico, Barcelona

Nico Williams, Athletic Club

Nuno Mendes, PSG

Becir Omeragic, Zurich

Simone Pafundi, Udinese

Matías Palacios, Basel

Paulo Bernardo, Benfica

Pedri, Barcelona

Yéremi Pino, Villarreal

Devyne Rensch, Ajax

Giovanni Reyna, Borussia Dortmund

Fabian Rieder, Young Boys

Rodrigo Ribeiro, Sporting Clube de Portugal

Luka Romero, Lazio

Georginio Rutter, Hoffenheim

Lazar Samardzic, Udinese

Cisse Sandra, Brugge

Pape Matar Sarr, Tottenham Hotspur

Joe Scally, Borussia Mönchengladbach

Giorgio Scalvini, Atalanta

Benjamin Sesko, Red Bull Salzburg

Brandon Soppy, Udinese

Matías Malvano Soulé, Juventus

Filip Stevanovic, Heerenveen

Luka Sucic, Red Bull Salzburg