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What’s the story?
Real Madrid's 19-year-old Brazilian winger Vinicius, Benfica's much sought after Portuguese starlet Joao Felix, Dortmund's mercurial winger Jadon Sancho and new Los Blancos acquisition Rodrygo Goes are amongst the list of 100 nominees announced for the Golden Boy award.
The award is given out by an association of sports media publications to a young footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during each calendar year.
In case you didn’t know…
First awarded in 2003, the Golden Boy awardee list includes some stellar names such as Lionel Messi (2005), Sergio Aguero (2007), Paul Pogba (2013), Raheem Sterling (2014) and Kylian Mbappe (2017).
Ajax Amsterdam captain Matthijs de Ligt won the last Golden Boy award in 2018, for his titanic displays in defence for the Dutch champions. He joins ex-Ajax player and new Barcelona acquisition Frenkie de Jong in this year's nomiee list as well.
The heart of the matter
Amongst the 100 nominees announced for the prestigious award, the big names include Real Madrid upcoming sensation Vinicius Junior, Benfica's much talked about midfielder Joao Felix, Real Madrid bound ex-Santos star Rodrygo and Borussia Dortmund's prodigious winger Jadon Sancho.
The list includes 4 Los Blancos stars-Rodrygo, Vinicius alongwith Brahim Diaz and Andriy Lunin. Barcelona is represented by two players-Riqui Puig and Lazar Carevic.
Other prominent names amongst the 100 nominees announced: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan), Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexander Isak (Real Sociedad), Moise Kean (Juventus), Diego Lainez (Real Betis), Kang-in Lee (Valencia), Nehuen Perez (Atletico Madrid), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) and Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma).
What's next?
The winner of the prestigious award will be voted on by 40 sports journalists from across Europe. The shortlist of 20 finalists will be announced on 15th October.
