Golden Boy 2025 Power Rankings

Established in 2003, the Golden Boy award has become one of the most prestigious in football, given each year to the most impressive young player in Europe. There have been 22 winners of the award, with one of its criteria being that no player can win the award multiple times.

Created by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, the Golden Boy award has since grown to incorporate votes from a number of publications across Europe, such as l’Equipe in France, Bild in Germany and The Times in the United Kingdom. Spain are the country that have seen the most recipients of the award, with five Spaniards having been named Golden Boy since 2003.

The award is often given towards the end of the calendar year, incorporating two half-seasons, as it were, when deciding the winner. Lamine Yamal is the latest sensation to be named as Golden Boy, but as the rules stipulate, he can not reclaim the award.

Arsenal duo Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri have enjoyed breakthrough seasons in the 2024/2025 campaign, while the likes of Desire Doue of PSG and Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsi are also strong contenders for the award – the latter two of course were key in their respective sides’ performances in the Champions League last season. But just who are the current favourites to take home the prize this year?

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Ranking Factors

Players in this list have been included due to their strong performances across the season so far, though there is still much football to be played in 2025, so some cases may grow more convincing as the year goes on. As aforementioned, there is a strict criteria for the Golden Boy awards, which is:

• Only players under the age of 21 are eligible
• Must be playing European football
• Anyone who turns 21 in 2025 can not win the award (PSG’s Joao Neves does so in September)
• People who have won before–like Yamal–can not win again

15

Kobbie Mainoo

Manchester United

It’s a measure of Kobbie Mainoo’s talents and potential, that Manchester United fans earmarked him as the man to anchor their midfield for at least the next decade when he initially made his breakthrough into the first-team under former manager Erik ten Hag. Since Ruben Amorim’s arrival however, things have been relatively stop-start, with injuries holding his progress back.

The England international has been out of the limelight as United have struggled, and it is difficult to see how he will fit in Amorim’s system going forward. Nevertheless, his potential remains huge, but any hopes of a Golden Boy award have surely gone.

14

Claudio Echeverri

Manchester City

Having only just joined up with Manchester City in January 2025 – he had remained with River Plate on a year-long loan following the initial agreement of a move to the Citizens – Claudio Echeverri showed in his time in Argentina that he is among the exciting prospects to come out of South America in recent years.

An attacking midfielder by trade who can also play out wide, Echeverri played a total of 59 times for one of Argentina’s biggest and most historic sides despite his tender age. It was however his performances at international level where the versatile star truly made his name and caught the attention of some of the biggest clubs in European football. Echeverri scored a hat-trick against Brazil for Argentina in the quarter-finals of U17 World Cup, and finished the competition with five goals to his name.

13

Geovany Quenda

Sporting

Now on his way to Chelsea in the summer of 2026, there is a reason why the Blues moved quickly to secure his signature for the future given the increased level of interest in the winger. Indeed, reports had suggested that Manchester United – under former Sporting manager Ruben Amorim – had earmarked him as a potential arrival, but it is Premier League rivals Chelsea who have beaten them to the punch.

Capable of playing at wing-back but perhaps more comfortable as an out-and-out winger, Quenda has got that blend of blistering pace and trickery that makes him a nightmare for opposition defenders. A move to Stamford Bridge may be something to be questioned given the Blues’ struggles in recent seasons, but there is no doubting the potential of Quenda himself.

12

Arda Guler

Real Madrid

Another young talent signed by Real Madrid, Arda Guler is still patiently waiting for his chance of consistent first-team football, but the enormous potential he has is something Los Blancos fans have already witnessed. An exciting play-maker capable of playing out wide or as the number ten as the chief creator, Guler’s ball-striking is up there with the very best.

But, given Madrid’s incredible wealth of attacking talent, it is difficult to see just how Xabi Alonso can integrate him into the starting line-up on a regular basis, with the wide positions in particular a place where the club are very well stocked at.

11

Jorrel Hato

Ajax

Comfortable playing either in central defence or as a left-back, Jorrel Hato spent four years in the famous Ajax youth academy after joining them from Sparta Rotterdam in 2018. After spending some time playing with Jong Ajax, Hato made his debut for the senior side in 2023 and hasn’t looked back since.

Hato is rightly regarded as one of Europe’s brightest talents, linked with Liverpool, and playing for a team who have a long history of producing star players – with examples as recent as Matthijs de Ligt, who won the Golden Boy award in 2018. As good as Hato is, however, there are other candidates better primed for this year’s edition of the award.

10

Endrick

Real Madrid

Even before his move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, Endrick had already established himself as a star with Palmeiras, so much so that Los Blancos agreed a deal to sign the sensation in 2022 for when he turned 18. Endrick’s reveal as a Real Madrid player was, understandably, met with much fanfare.

It can be easy to forget just how young Endrick is given the amount of attention he has received already in his career, but the Brazil international has underwhelmed in Europe thus far when held against his expectations. Of course, Endrick still has years to reach his incredible potential, but it does not feel as though this year’s Golden Boy will be going to the Santiago Bernabeu.

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9

Eliesse Ben Seghir

Monaco

To date, Eliesse Ben Seghir has spent his entire senior career with Monaco, having joined their youth set-up in 2020 and debuting in Ligue 1 two years later. Since then, Ben Seghir has developed steadily, earning his first call up to the Moroccan national team in 2024 as his importance in the Monaco side has only grown.

Monaco are scarcely strangers to producing exciting attacking talents; from Thierry Henry to Kylian Mbappe and now, Ben Seghir, who has nine goal contributions in a Ligue 1 season that has seen Monaco maintain their push for Champions League qualification.

8

Tom Bischof

Hoffenheim

After seven years of development in their youth academy, Tom Bischof made his senior debut for Hoffenheim in 2022 and since then, has grown and established himself as a key part of their midfield. In the 2024/25 season, Bischof has been one of the Bundesliga’s most consistent performers, despite being just 19 years old.

In the January transfer window, Bayern Munich confirmed that they had reached an agreement to sign Bischof on a free transfer in the summer, when he will sign a four-year deal. Perhaps with Bayern, the German youth international will find a pedestal that pushes his name further into Golden Boy conversations.

7

Kenan Yildiz

Juventus

Born in Germany, Kenan Yildiz spent over a decade playing youth football in his home country before moving to Juventus in 2022, spending a year with their academy before debuting for the senior side in 2023. Since then, Yildiz has developed massively.

Now a regular for the Turkish international side, Yildiz has been a consistent source of brilliance for the Bianconeri who have undergone some big changes in the dugout over the past couple of years. New boss Igor Tudor will be hoping to get the best out of him.

6

Warren Zaire-Emery

Paris Saint-Germain

The second of two Paris Saint-Germain players to feature in this list, it can be easy to forget that Warren Zaire-Emery has only just turned 19, given he has played in over 100 senior matches for his boyhood team. After joining their youth set-up in 2014, Zaire-Emery spent eight years progressing through the ranks before linking up with the first team.

Now a French international, Zaire-Emery continues to play with an assured level of confidence that is far beyond his years. A natural centre midfielder, Zaire-Emery has shown comfort when deployed as either a right midfielder or a right-back, with versatility being yet another feather in the player’s cap.

Zaire-Emery has the chance to be the beating heart of a resurgent PSG side, who look set to win at least the league title by the 2024/25 season’s end. Should the Parisians do something special in the Champions League, however, which many may think possible after they overcame Liverpool, then Zaire-Emery could find himself named the Golden Boy of 2025.