Official: 25-man Golden Boy shortlist revealed – Yildiz, Doue, Guler included

Tuttosport has officially announced the 25-player shortlist for the 2025 Golden Boy award, which includes two young Italy talents and two players currently playing in Serie A. 

The Golden Boy is an annual award handed out by Italian outlet Tuttosport to the best young player based in Europe under the age of 21. 

Juventus’s Kenan Yildiz is on the 2025 shortlist, while Italy talents Francesco Pio Esposito (of Inter) and Giovanni Leoni (of Liverpool) have been included as wildcard picks. 

20 players on the shortlist have been included based on Tuttosport and Football Benchmark’s algorithm, while another five ‘wildcards’ are selected. Those wildcard picks this year are Esposito, Leoni, Jobe Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund, Rodrigo Mora of Porto and Aleksandar Stankovic of Club Brugge. 

Among those who qualified through the Football Benchmark Index are PSG’s Desire Doue, Warren Zaire-Emery and Senny Mayulu, Real Madrid trio Arda Guler, Franco Mastantuono and Dean Huijsen, Estevao of Chelsea and Pau Cubarsi from Barcelona. 

The Golden Boy award can not be won by the same player more than once, which means that last year’s winner, Lamine Yamal, cannot take home the trophy for a second time, despite still being under the age limit (21). 

Previous winners of the Golden Boy award include Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham.