Golden Boy 2021 poll. Who are the biggest favourites?

As is tradition, the Italian football daily Tuttosport organises an annual poll for the best young player under 21. Last year, the winner was Norwegian striker Erling Haaland. This year the selection of players is more than varied. The original list of one hundred players has already been narrowed down to forty. The level of tension is gradually rising and only a few names are left in the game. Who are the biggest favourites?

Football’s award for the best young player under 21 was first launched in 2003. It works like this. Sports journalists first nominate players, five in total each. 10 points are then awarded at their discretion to the best of the bunch, 7 points to the second, 5 points to the third, 3 points to the fourth and 1 point to the fifth.

To be nominated, a player must be under the age of twenty-one. Once the voting is complete, the entire list is then published and then the names of the players are gradually reduced until only the last twenty remain.

For this year, we are down to the last forty candidates. Below is the complete list::

Karim-David Adeyemi, RB Salzburg
Rayan Aït-Nouri, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Ander Muguruza Barrenetxea, Real Sociedad
Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund
Myron Boadu, AS Monaco
Brian Ebenezer Adjei Brobbey, RB Leipzig
Eduardo Camavinga, Real Madrid
Rayan Mathis Cherki, Olympique Lion
Mohamed-Ali Coh, Angers SCO
Francisco Fernandes da Conceição, Porto
Charles de Ketelaere, Club Brugge
Ersin Destanoglu, Besiktas
Jérémy Doku, Rennes
Eric García, FC Barcelona
Bryan Salvatierra Gil, Tottenham Hotspur
Matias Gonçalo Ramos, Benfica,
Ryan Jiro Gravenberch, AFC Ajax
Mason Greenwood, Manchester United
Joško Gvardiol, RB Leipzig
Mohamed Amine Ihattaren, UC Sampdoria
Kourouma Ilaix Moriba, RB Leipzig
Odilon Kouakou Dorgeless Kossounou, Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Chukwunonso Tristan Madueke, PSV Eindhoven
Felix Khonde Mambimbi, BSC Young Boys
Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal
Mykhailo Petrovych Mudrik, Shakhtar Donetsk
Jamal Musiala, Bayern Munich
Alexandre Tavares Nuno Mendes, Paris Saint-Germain
Pedri, FC Barcelona
Roberto Picolli, Atalanta Bergamo
Yéremi Jesús Santos Pino, Villareal
Giovanni Reyna, Borussia Dortmund
Bukayo Saka , Arsenal
William Alain André Gabriel Saliba, Olympique Marseille
Martín Adrián Costa Satriano, Inter Milan
Luke Jonathan Thomas, Leicester City
Khéphren Thuram-Ulien, OGC Nice
Jurriën David Norman Timber, AFC Ajax
Florian Wirtz, Bayer Leverkusen
Illya Borysovych Zabarnyi, Dynamo Kiev

The first and biggest favourite this year is 18-year-old Pedri from Barcelona, who became a stable member of Barcelona’s starting eleven last season and managed to make a name for himself in the Spanish national team at EURO 2020, where he also took home the award for the best young player of the tournament.

The next in line is Jamal Musiala from Bayern Munich. Although he hasn’t played much for Bayern, he has already made five starts for Germany. Overall, the very talented offensive midfielder is certainly a great promise for the Bavarians in the future.

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka will complete the trio. The Englishman is one of Arsenal’s few standouts. Saka is quite versatile, as he can play virtually any position on the left side of the pitch.

The other favourites are of course Jude Bellingham and Bryan Gil. We mustn’t forget the Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga, whose great performances in the Rennes jersey secured his transfer to Real Madrid,

Of course, all the nominees have a chance to win, but we’ll have to wait a little longer for the announcement. Voting is now underway and on 15 October the list will be narrowed down by another twenty names. The full competition will then be announced exactly one month later.

Source: Tuttosport, Wikipedia