The prestigious Golden Boy Award for 2023 has inevitably gone to Jude Bellingham, named the best Under-21 player in European football with an incredible 97% of the votes.
It was always going to be his to lose, but even then few expected such an astonishing dominance of the voting process.
The award is handed out every year by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, bringing in votes from experts representing top sports papers including L’Equipe, France Football, The Times, AS, Marca, Mundo Deportivo, Bild, A Bola and Kicker.
Only players aged under 21 and playing in one of Europe’s top flight club leagues are eligible.
Gavi won it in 2022 and the award remains in Spain for Real Madrid star Bellingham, who scored 13 goals in 14 competitive games for the Merengues this season.
He received an extraordinary 97% of the vote, specifically 485 points out of a maximum of 500.
It is not entirely new, as Kylian Mbappé crushed the opposition by a similar margin in 2017.
A good 200 points behind Bellingham is second-placed Jamil Musiala of Bayern Munich.
The ceremony to hand out all the trophies, including to best Italian Under-21 player Giorgio Scalvini of Atalanta, will be on December 4 in Turin.