Analysis: What is the Golden Boy award? Previous winners, eligibility rules and nominees

Dripping with Antonio Conte’s typical determination, the Italian manager once declared: “There is no young and old, only victory or failure.”

One can only speculate what the former Juventus midfielder would have thought when he picked up Turin’s sports daily Tuttosport in 2003 to see the inaugural edition of the Golden Boy award – a prize handed out to individuals conditioned by youthfulness rather than solely success.

While it may have its critics, the Golden Boy award has blossomed into an international affair, with journalists from across Europe voting for the best young male footballer of the calendar year.

Here’s everything you need to know about the baby Ballon d’Or.

• Which players are eligible for the Golden Boy award?

The Golden Boy award is only applicable to players that turn 20 years of age or younger in the year of their triumph.

Even though the initial long list of nominees is announced in June, the award is theoretically supposed to be based on the performance of players across the entire calendar year.

Individuals of any nationality can win the award but they have to be plying their trade in the highest league of a European country. Naturally, players from UEFA nations have dominated the list of champions, with every winner since 2010 hailing from Europe.

The Golden Boy is decided by journalists from England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Switzerland.

Each voter nominates and ranks five players, awarding points on a sliding scale of ten for the front-runner, seven for second place, five for third, three for fourth and a single point for fifth. The Golden Boy is the individual that acquires the highest points tally.

• Every player to win the Golden Boy award

Lionel Messi is the first and so far only player to win the Golden Boy and the Ballon d’Or, claiming the junior prize in 2005 before lifting the first of seven big balls four years later.

However, both Kylian Mbappe (2017) and Erling Haaland (2020) have also won the junior award. Even if Messi is the favourite to claim the senior gong again in 2023, at least one of Mbappe and Haaland will surely complete the set at some point.

Messi was voted the Golden Boy of 2005, the year that he turned 18. It wasn’t until 2022 that another 18-year-old was deemed to be the best young player in Europe when Gavi hoisted aloft the accolade. Gavi had become the youngest player in the history of the men’s Spanish national team the year before, making his debut against Italy. The Azzurri defender Emerson Palmeiri admitted: “I didn’t know him.” Soon everyone would.

The early recipients of the award – the likes of Wayne Rooney, Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Aguero – undoubtedly lived up to their potential. But the Golden Boy hasn’t always matured into a similarly sparkling man.

The Brazilian duo of Anderson and Alexandre Pato won the award in consecutive years between 2008 and 2009 while representing Manchester United and Milan respectively. Yet, both left Europe before they turned 30, long after hitting their peak.

Ever the canny operators, Benfica exploited the prodigious talents of Renato Sanches and Joao Felix before moving them on. The two academy graduates were sold for a combined sum of more than €150m to Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid respectively during the year in which they were crowned the Golden Boy. Both have desperately struggled to rediscover that resplendent allure.

• Golden Boy 2023 nominees

A total of 100 players have been named on the not-so-shortlist for the 2023 award. Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala, two former England youth internationals that jousted in the Bundesliga over recent years, are among the favourites.

Gavi could become the first player in the two-decade history of the award to win it twice. The embryonic midfielder would still be eligible in 2024.

Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho could become the first Premier League player to be crowned Golden Boy since his teammate Anthony Martial – although, the Frenchman joined the Red Devils midway through 2015 from Ligue 1 side Monaco. The principality felt compelled to include a bonus clause in the deal with United should Martial win the Ballon d’Or – if only they had made a stipulation regarding the junior version.