Frenchman Désiré Douet stands out for the great “Golden Boy” award
The PSG`s french player is the top contender to win the trophy this season
Italian sports newspaper “Tuttosport” revealed (15/10) the final list of -25 footballers – (for the Golden Boy 2025 award) , for the title of European Golden Boy 2025. The list of 25 finalists for the final award consists of the top 20 footballers of the Golden Boy Index (a ranking compiled by Football Benchmark, the award’s data and analytics partner) with the exception of the undisputed king of the ranking, Lamine Yamal, who was excluded by the rules as he was already included in last season’s list. They are joined by five wild cards assigned to him by the Tuttosport editorial team.
The award ceremony took place at the
Badia di Sant'Andrea in Genoa, Italy's
oldest sports boarding school, which nevertheless looks to the future. The list of 25 finalists for the final award is made up of the
top 20 players in the Golden Boy Index - a ranking compiled by Football Benchmark, the award's data and analytics partner - with the exception of the undisputed king of the ranking, Lamine Yamal, who was excluded by the rules as he was already included in the honours list. Five wild cards were provided by the Tuttosport editorial team.
Desiré Doue, PSG`s player is great favorite for win the Award.
The final decision now lies with the international jury of the European Golden Boy, made up of 50 journalists from across Europe, who have taken on the difficult task of selecting the Absolute Best 2025. The winner and all other awardees will be announced at a press conference in November, paving the way for the awards ceremony in Turin. A total of 13 nations are represented in the list of 25 finalists, with France and England leading the way with five players each, followed by Spain, Italy, Turkey and Portugal (two each). With nine candidates, the Premier League leads the leagues with the most represented, ahead of La Liga, Ligue 1 (four) and Portugal’s Liga (three).
The evaluation: Some technical notes: of these finalists, 20 correspond to the top positions of the Golden Boy Football Report Index, our most faithful ally which allows us, like an ATP ranking, to follow the performance of talents under 21 from European clubs in real time. The other five are wild cards awarded to players who, outside the top 20, were deemed worthy of such an important opportunity. The algorithm used until now will therefore be replaced by the human element, the experience of a jury of excellence who know these talents well: they have the final say.
During today's event, the 10 finalists of the European Golden Girl were also revealed. An award that was launched in 2023. It has an honor roll that has already seen more than one successful appearance on the pitch, with, in chronological order, Jule Brand, Linda Caicedo and Vicky Lopez.
This list also includes the Italian Golden Girl award, won last year by Giulia Dragoni. But if the announcement of the finalists will be the highlight of the program in Genoa, what precedes it will be just as exciting: Tuttosport editor Guido Vacchiago and Sky Sport journalist Federica Lodi led two panels that were, of course, in line with the topics of interest to the European Golden Boy and the context of the competition.
The list of twenty finalists of Golden Boy 2025:
PAU CUBARSÍ – (Barcelona)
DÉSIRÉ DOUÉ – (Paris Saint-Germain)
DEAN HUIJSEN – (Real Madrid)
KENAN YILDIZ – (Juventus)
MYLES LEWIS-SKELLY – (Arsenal)
WARREN ZAÏRE-EMERY – (Paris Saint-Germain)
ARDA GÜLER – (Real Madrid)
FRANCO MASTANTUONO – (Real Madrid)
ETHAN NWANERI – (Arsenal)
JORREL HATO – (Chelsea)
GEOVANY QUENDA – (Sporting Lisbon)
ESTÊVÃO – (Chelsea)
LENY YORO – (Manchester United)
SENNY MAYULU – (Paris Saint-Germain)
NICO O'REILLY – (Manchester City)
ELIESSE BEN SEGHIR – (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
VICTOR FROHOLDT – (Porto)
LUCAS BERGVALL – (Tottenham)
ARCHIE GRAY - Tottenham Hotspur
MAMADOU SARR - RC Strasbourg
The five Wild Cards for the 2025 Golden Boy
JOBE BELLINGHAM – (Borussia Dortmund)
FRANCESCO PIO ESPOSITO – (Inter)
RODRIGO MORA - (Porto)
GIOVANNI LEONI – (Liverpool)
ALEKSANDAR STANKOVIC – (Club Brugge)
The ten nominees for the European Golden Girl – Absolute Best
MICHELLE AGYEMANG – (Brighton)
IMAN BENEY – (Manchester City)
GIULIA GALLI – (Roma)
EVA SCHATZER – (Juventus)
SIGNE GAUPSET – (Brann)
SMILLA HOLMBERG – (Hammarby)
FELICIA SCHRÖDER – (Hacken)
WIEKE KAPTEIN – (Chelsea)
NINA MATEJIC - (Zenit St. Petersburg)
LILY YOHANNES – (Lyon)

Manos Staramopoulos
Journalist and Analyst of International Football and Affairs
Chief Editor English Zone of Discoveryfootball.com
Athens (Greece)