Golden Boy 2020: Saka, Anjorin listed, Osimhen Chukwueze out
No Super Eagles player was listed in the 100-man list for the 2020 Golden Boy award reserved for players in the European leagues under the 20-year-old bracket. The duo of Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze who made the cut last year are both above the age.
Only Nigeria-born lads such as Michael Obafemi, Faustino Anjorin, Bukayo Saka made the cut. A closer look at the 100-man list showed that Chelsea and Arsenal lead the way with four each.
The award for the most promising young player in European football will be voted by the continent’s media.
On Tuesday, the nominations were announced with Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour, Faustino Anjorin and Ethan Ampadu representing Chelsea.
Arsenal counted William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Trae Coyle and Gabriel Martinelli from their impressive academy ranks.
Manchester United and Liverpool both have three players in the running, while Manchester City, Tottenham and Wolves all have two.
Phil Foden, Mason Greenwood and Ryan Sessegnon have all enjoyed impressive seasons, and are joined in the longlist by Southampton’s Michael Obafemi and Max Aarons of Norwich.
Among the favourites will be Borussia Dortmund pair Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland.
The England winger has smashed 20 goals and 20 assists in 2019/20 – and was only narrowly pipped to last year’s crown by Joao Felix.
Meanwhile, Haaland has stepped up from Salzburg remarkably well after making a big impression in the Champions League for the Austrian club.
Bayern Munich wing-back Alphonso Davies, Ansu Fati of Barcelona, and the Real Madrid duo of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes will all feel they are in with a shout for the honour.
Los Blancos and United target Edoardo Camavinga, 17, is also nominated having strongly impressed at Rennes.
Previous winners include Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, and Kylian Mbappe.
read also; Chukwueze, Ikwuowem make 80-man Golden Boy Award list
Although, not every Golden Boy has gone on to live up to their potential with Renato Sanches and Alexandre Pato’s careers somewhat less momentous.
The award was founded in 2003 and first won by Dutch playmaker Rafael van der Vaart.
FULL NOMINATIONS:
Goalkeepers: Ionut-Casian Rus (Cluj)
Defenders: Max Aarons (Norwich City), Ethan Ampadu (RB Leipzig), Benoit Badiashile (Monaco), Mitchel Bakker (PSG), David Colina (Hajduk Split), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Sergino Dest (Ajax), Tiago Djalo (Lille), Eric Garcia (Manchester City), Lutsharel Geertruida (Feyenoord), Ozan Kabak (Schalke), Yasser Larouci (Liverpool), Svetozar Markovic (Larisa), Loic Mbe Soh (PSG), Juan Miranda (Schalke), Patricio Nehuén Pérez (Famalicao), Jean-Claude Ntenda (Juventus), Strahinja Pavlovic (Partizan Belgrade), Eduardo Quaresma (Sporting CP), William Saliba (Saint-Etienne), Ryan Sessegnon (Tottenham), Yukinari Sugawara (AZ), Tomás Tavares (Benfica), Manuel Tiago Lopes (Porto).
Midfielders: Yacine Adli (Bordeaux), Lucien Jefferson Agoume (Inter), Faustino Anjorin (Chelsea), Adil Aouchiche (PSG), Edoardo Camavinga (Rennes), Phil Foden (Manchester City), James Garner (Manchester United), Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolves), Bryan Gil (Leganes), Billy Gilmour (Chelsea), Claudio Gomes (PSV), Matias Goncalo Ramos (Benfica), Ryan Jiro Gravenberch (Ajax), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea), Mohamed Amine Ihattaren (PSV), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Takefusa Kubo (Mallorca), Dejan Kulusevski (Parma), Alessio Riccardi (Roma), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Oliver Skipp (Tottenham), Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Salzburg), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Hamed Traore (Sassuolo), Sepp van den Berg (Liverpool)
Forwards: Abel Ruiz (Braga), Karim-David Adeyemi (RB Salzburg), Marley Ake (Marseille), Angel Gomes (Manchester United), Myron Boadu (Alkmaar), Rayan Cherki (Lyon), Facundo Colidio (Sint-Truiden), Trae Coyle (Arsenal), Leon Dajaku (Bayern Munich), Jonathan David (Gent), Karamoko Dembele (Celtic), Sebastiano Esposito (Inter), Daniel Fabio Silva (Porto), Ansu Fati (Barcelona), Lyle Foster (Cercle Brugge), Zeljko Gavric (Red Star), Willem Geubbels (Monaco), Lorenzo González (St Gallen), Amine Gouiri (Lyon), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Mamadou Kaly Sene (Juventus), Mohammed Kudus (Nordsjaelland), Diego Lainez (Real Betis), Kang-in Lee (Valencia), Daniel Maldini (Milan), Felix Khonde Mambimbi (Young Boys), Antonio Marin (Dinamo Zagreb), Alejandro José Mendez Marques (Juventus), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Michael Obafemi (Southampton), Paulinho (Bayer Leverkusen), Pedro Neto (Wolves), Euclides Rafael Camacho (Sporting CP), Reinier (Real Madrid), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Miguel Romario Baro (Porto), Thomas Sabitzer (LASK), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Martin Sergio Gomez (Borussia Dortmund), Mathias Soule (Juventus), Mateus Tete (Shakhtar), Ferran Torres (Valencia), Amad Traore (Atalanta), Lassina Traore (Ajax), Heorhiy Tsitaishvili (Dynamo Kiev), Yari Verschaeren (Anderlecht), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina).