By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The organisers of the Golden Boy Award have released the list of 25 nominees for the 2025 edition, which honours the best U-21 footballer in Europe’s top leagues.
Previous recipients include stars such as Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, and, most recently, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal. Yamal, who won the 2024 award, is not eligible this year as players can only claim the trophy once.
The shortlist was created through votes from 50 journalists across Europe, with Tuttosport adding five additional wild cards to complete the selection.
The 25 finalists for the 2025 Golden Boy Award
- Pau Cubarsí – Barcelona
- Désiré Doué – Paris Saint-Germain
- Dean Huijsen – Real Madrid
- Kenan Yildiz – Juventus
- Myles Lewis-Skelly – Arsenal
- Warren Zaïre-Emery – Paris Saint-Germain
- Arda Güler – Real Madrid
- Franco Mastantuono – Real Madrid
- Ethan Nwaneri – Arsenal
- Jorrel Hato – Chelsea
- Geovany Quenda – Sporting Lisbon
- Estêvão – Chelsea
- Leny Yoro – Manchester United
- Senny Mayulu – Paris Saint-Germain
- Nico O’Reilly – Manchester City
- Eliesse Ben Seghir – Bayer Leverkusen
- Victor Frøholdt – Porto
- Lucas Bergvall – Tottenham Hotspur
- Archie Gray – Tottenham Hotspur
- Mamadou Sarr – Strasbourg
Wild Cards
- Jobe Bellingham – Borussia Dortmund
- Francesco Pio Esposito – Inter Milan
- Rodrigo Mora – Porto
- Giovanni Leoni – Liverpool
- Aleksandar Stanković – Club Brugge