Ranking the top 5 favourites for the 2021 Golden Boy Award
The 100 nominees for the 2021 Golden Boy Award have been named. It is an award given by sports journalists to the best under-21 footballer who plies his trade in any of the European top-flights. Erling Haaland took home the award in 2020 after a stellar season with Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund.
The Golden Boy Award is the young footballer's Ballon d'Or. Last year, Haaland was the clear-cut favourite to win the Golden Boy Award. But this time around, it's hard to predict who's going to be chosen as the Golden Boy as we have a lot of talented young individuals who have been nominated.
No clear-cut favourites in the race for the 2021 Golden Boy Award
The list of nominees will be cut short by 20 on the 15th of each of the upcoming months until October. We will have 20 finalists by October 15 following which the Golden Boy of the Year will be chosen. But let's not wait that long and try to trim that list down to just five. Take a look at the top five favourites to win the 2021 Golden Boy Award.
#5 Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
It says a lot about Arsenal's lack of zip in attack when they are regularly forced to look for a creative spark from their 19-year-old winger. Saka has been a guiding light for the Gunners and has come up with the goods on several occasions.
The youngster started off at left-back but has transitioned into an inverted right-winger in recent times. His ball retaining ability and vision set him apart from the rest and Gareth Southgate was justified in giving him a call-up to the national side for Euro 2021.
He is good on both sides of the pitch and his trickery can cause problems for the best defenders in the Premier League. Saka can go on to become a big star in the years to come. He scored seven goals and provided 10 assists in 46 matches across all competitions last term. Saka is definitely one of the favourites to win the 2021 Golden Boy Award.
#4 Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
Manchester United's golden boy Mason Greenwood had a stellar breakout season in 2019-20. However, due to several off-field issues he was in a bit of turmoil by the time the 2020-21 season pulled up. Credit then goes to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for being patient with him and helping him whip out his best towards the end of the season.
Struggling to replicate his form from the 2019-20 season, Greenwood took a while to get his confidence back. However, it was clear to see that he had added a lot more to his game in the meantime. The 20-year-old started to get really good on the ball and stealing the ball from him seemed like a difficult task all throughout the 2020-21 campaign.
Greenwood ended the 2020-21 season with a flourish. In his last 14 appearances, he scored eight goals and provided an assist. He ended the season with 12 goals and six assists to his name in 52 appearances across all competitions. He only started 36 times. Greenwood is one of the main contendors for the 2021 Golden Boy Award.