The 24th annual European Golden Boy awards ceremony took place at Villa Fürstenberg in Mestre, the headquarters of Banca Ifis, where the top 25 under-21 football players in Europe were revealed, according to VeneziaToday.
Alongside the unveiling of the list, the banking group presented a dedicated study titled “The Economy of Talent: How Under-21s Are Redefining Value in Football”. According to the analysis by Ifis Sport, young players have emerged as the primary driving force behind the European transfer market in terms of both transaction volume and financial value.
Financial Impact Across Major European Leagues
Data compiled between 2018 and 2026 shows that under-21 players accounted for 35 percent of all transfer market purchases across Europe’s five major leagues. These transactions generated 26 percent of total transfer spending, representing an average annual investment of approximately 1.7 billion euros.
The Italian top flight has experienced a rapid alignment with this broader international trend. VeneziaToday reported that between the 2018–19 and 2025–26 seasons, under-21 players absorbed 22 percent of Serie A market investments. This equated to roughly 260 million euros annually out of a total league spending of 9.3 billion euros. These operations generated 26 percent of overall spending, for an average annual investment of about 1.7 billion euros, while under-21 players in the Italian championship absorbed 22 percent of market investments amounting to about 260 million euros annually against a total spending of 9.3 billion euros, with Under-21s absorbing 22 percent of market investments amounting to about 260 million euros annually out of a total spending of 9.3 billion euros.
A distinct characteristic of the Italian model is its heavy reliance on loan deals, which represents 68 percent of under-21 purchases by Serie A clubs.
The Selected 25 Under-21 Talents
The list of 25 players comprises 20 top-ranking prospects from the Transfermarkt standings—excluding Lamine Yamal, who has already won the award—alongside five wild-card selections chosen from positions 21 to 100, as detailed by VeneziaToday.
The five wild-card selections announced at the ceremony are Xavi Espart (Barcelona), Rodrigo Mora (Roma), Franco Mastantuono (Fiorentina), Joane Gadou (Borussia Dortmund), and Charalampos Kostoulas (Brighton).
The remaining 20 selected players feature Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona), Ayyoub Bouaddi (Manchester City), Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain), Yan Diomande (Real Madrid), Luka Vušković (Brighton), Victor Froholdt (Porto), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Ryan (Bournemouth), Jorrel Hato (Chelsea), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Estêvão (Chelsea), Endrick (Real Madrid), Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth), Gianluca Prestianni (Benfica), Konstantinos Karetsas (Borussia Dortmund), Saïd El Mala (Cologne), Jon Martín (Real Sociedad), Marc Bernal (Barcelona), Kerim Alajbegović (Juventus), and Finn Jeltsch (Stuttgart).
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