Top 5 contenders for the 2020 Golden Boy award
One of the most prestigious individual awards in football, the Golden Boy is given to the best young player in a calendar year. Players must be aged 21 or under and play in a European nation's top tier to be eligible for the award.
The current holder of the Golden Boy award is Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, who won it for his performances at Benfica in 2019. Previous winners of this award include names like Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney and Kylian Mbappe.
On that note, we look at the top five favourites for the Golden Boy award this year:
#5: Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid)
When Real Madrid decided to splurge €45 million in 2018 on Vinicius Jr. to acquire him from Flamengo, eyebrows were raised.
Not much was known about the youngster back then, and it was seen as an extravagant purchase by Los Blancos. But two seasons later, it looks like a shrewd acquisition. Vinicius has become an integral part of Zinedine Zidane's attack and was trusted with a lot of minutes during the season.
The 20-year old is not the finished article, far from it. But his pace and dribbling ability from the left-wing are impressive, and his performances have been such that he has kept the likes of Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez out of the first-team picture.
Last season, the winger made 29 appearances in La Liga, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
#4: Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
When Romelu Lukaku was sold to Inter Milan last summer, many Manchester United fans expected a replacement to arrive.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was vocal in his support of young Mason Greenwood, however. The Norwegian placed a lot of faith on the youngster, and it is fair to say that Greenwood has delivered with his performances this season.
The 18-year old, although a striker, often played on the right-wing for Manchester United. He formed a threatening and fluid attack with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, with their pace and quality often causing problems to opposition defences.
An extremely strong finisher, Greenwood is excellent with both feet. The Englishman made 29 appearances in the Premier League where he scored ten goals and provided one assist.
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