Six Serie A players, two of whom are Italian, have been included on the 100-player list of finalists for the 2024 edition of the Golden Boy Awards.
Six Serie A players included on Golden Boy finalists list
The two Italians included on the list are Fiorentina right-back Michael Kayode and 18-year-old Udinese-owned forward Simone Pafundi, who spent the second half of the 2023-24 season on loan with Lausanne-Sport in Switzerland in a deal that also includes an option to buy for โฌ15m.
Four other Serie A players are on the Golden Boy longlist, namely Juventus and Turkey star Kenan Yildiz, as well as fellow Next Gen graduate Dean Huijsen, who has spent 2024 on loan with Roma.
Bologna midfielder Kacper Urbanski has also been included, as has Argentine talent Valentin Carboni, who was on loan at Monza from Inter in 2023-24.
The Golden Boy awards, which have been running since 2003, are handed out by Italian outlet Tuttosport to the best players aged under 21, playing in a top-flight European division. Real Madrid starlet and England international Jude Bellingham was the most recent recipient at the back end of 2023.
The most recent winner from Serie A was Paul Pogba while in his first stint with Juventus back in 2013.
Mario Balotelli is the only ever Italian player to have won the Golden Boy award, back in 2010, which he spent with Inter and Manchester City.
For the 2024 award, which will be given out in the winter, the current frontrunners include Barcelonaโs Lamine Yamal, Benficaโs Joao Neves and Manchester Unitedโs Alejandro Garnacho.
๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ | Svelata a ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ nella splendida cornice del โ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ถ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ la Top ๐ del mese di Giugno ๐#GoldenBoy2024 ๐@Football_BM ๐@GoldenBoyAwards ๐#tuttosport pic.twitter.com/d1CuBNREW6
โ Tuttosport (@tuttosport) June 5, 2024