The article claims that Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham will win the Golden Boy title in December, making him the finest young player in the world.
The Golden Boy award, founded in 2003 by Italian journal Tuttosport, is in its 20th year and is distinct from the Kopa Trophy presented at the Ballon d’Or event.
Again showing maturity beyond his years, Bellingham propelled Borussia Dortmund to the top of the Bundesliga as Edin Terzic’s team tried to unseat Bayern Munich as Germany’s premier club.
Unfortunately for Dortmund and Bellingham, they were eliminated from title contention on the penultimate day after playing to a 2-2 tie with Mainz 05, a game in which the Englishman was injured and unable to play.
Bellingham pulled a camera away as he joined his colleagues on the Signal Iduna Park field, but he should have been pleased with his individual performance in his final year as a member of the black and yellow squad.
Bellingham became the first English teenager to score in four consecutive Champions League matches, amassing 14 goals and seven assists in 42 total games throughout the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal.
Bellingham scored once and assisted on another for England in their first World Cup campaign, which ended in the quarterfinals against France. He also captained Dortmund in two Bundesliga games and two Champions League matches.
Since his expensive transfer to Real Madrid, the 20-year-old has continued to impress Spanish fans with his impressive goal-scoring prowess, having scored 13 goals in just 11 games while also dishing out three assists.
On Saturday, Bellingham, a key player born in 2003, saw his first Clasico appearance, and he helped Real Madrid stage a spectacular comeback against Barcelona by scoring the equalizer and the game-winning goal.
Marca reports that Bellingham will be presented with the inaugural Golden Boy award, given to the year’s top performing Under-21 player.
If Bellingham were to win the Golden Boy award, he would join Wayne Rooney (2004) and Raheem Sterling (2014) as the third English player to do so.
Two of his La Liga rivals, Gavi and Pedri, have won the Golden Boy in the past two years; if the Real Madrid man were to win it, he would be the first active Blancos player to do so.
Bellingham is nominated for both the Ballon d’Or and Kopa Trophy at Monday’s presentation in Paris, and he is widely expected to win the latter. He was also a finalist for the Golden Boy award back in December.
Despite Bellingham, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappe’s best efforts, Inter Miami and Argentina star Lionel Messi is poised to hoist the 18-carat gold trophy aloft for a record-extending seventh time.
