It’s definitely the week of the Brugeois Charles De Ketelaere ! After shining Wednesday night against PSG, the striker is now on the list of 40 nominees for the Golden Boy Award. It is the trophy for the greatest football talent under the age of 21 awarded each year by the Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport. And Charles De Ketelaere is not the only Belgian since Jérémy Doku (Rennes) is also part of it.
Among the other nominees, we note the names of the former Brugeois Odilon Kossounou (Leverkusen), Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) and Pedri (FC Barcelona), the latter being the favorite.
The Golden Boy Award has been awarded since 2003. An international jury of football journalists chooses the final winner. Among the most prominent names on the honor list are Rafael van der Vaart (2003), Wayne Rooney (2004), Lionel Messi (2005), Cesc Fabregas (2006), Sergio Aguero (2007), Mario Balotelli (2010), Paul pogba (2013), Raheem Sterling (2014) and Kylian Mbappé (2017). Last year the award went to Norwegian striker Dortmund Erling Haaland.
No Belgian has ever been able to win the Golden Boy Award. Eden Hazard (third in 2011), Thibaut Courtois (third in 2012), Romelu Lukaku (second in 2013) and Divock Origi (second in 2014) climbed the podium.
