The Golden Boy award is a prestigious honour bestowed upon the best young footballer in Europe under the age of 21.
The nominees for this award are selected based on their performances for their respective clubs and countries for a calendar year (January to December).
This award was first established by the Italian sports newspaper called Tuttosport in 2003 when Rafael van der Vaart first won it.
Who has won it since then right up until 2022?
BestofBets take a look!
Every Golden Boy winner in history from 2003 to 2022
Yr
Winner
Nation
Club(s)
Position
2003
Rafael van der Vaart
Netherlands
Ajax
MID
1983
2004
Wayne Rooney
England
Everton, Manchester United
FW
1985
2005
Lionel Messi
Argentina
Barcelona
FW
1987
2006
Cesc Fàbregas
Spain
Arsenal
MID
1987
2007
Sergio Agüero
Argentina
Atlético Madrid
FW
1988
2008
Anderson
Brazil
Manchester United
MID
1988
2009
Alexandre Pato
Brazil
AC Milan
FW
1989
2010
Mario Balotelli
Italy
Inter Milan, Manchester City
FW
1990
2011
Mario Götze
Germany
Borussia Dortmund
MID
1992
2012
Isco
Spain
Málaga
MID
1992
2013
Paul Pogba
France
Juventus
MID
1993
2014
Raheem Sterling
England
Liverpool
FW
1994
2015
Anthony Martial
France
AS Monaco, Manchester United
FW
1995
2016
Renato Sanches
Portugal
Benfica, Bayern Munich
MID
1997
2017
Kylian Mbappé
France
Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain
FW
1998
2018
Matthijs de Ligt
Netherlands
Ajax
DEF
1999
2019
João Félix
Portugal
Benfica
FW
1999
2020
Erling Haaland
Norway
Borussia Dortmund
FW
2000
2021
Pedri
Spain
Barcelona
MID
2002
2022
Gavi
Spain
Barcelona
MID
2004
The 2023 Golden Boy award will be announced at the Ballon d’Or ceremony which takes place in October.
You can check out more content like this in our comprehensive BestofBets’ football section.
