Golden Boy 2026: Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly among Premier League stars on 25-man shortlist for Europe's best U21 player

Premier League players dominate the 2026 Golden Boy shortlist making up nearly a third of the 25 finalists for the prize awarded to the best U21 men's player in Europe; Barcelona have three players in contention - more than any other club - but Lamine Yamal is not on the list

Monday 5 October 2026 21:01, UK

Arsenal and England midfielder Myles Lewis-Skelly has been included in the 25-man shortlist for this year's Golden Boy award.

The 20-year-old is one of eight Premier League players in contention for the prize, presented by Italian publication Tuttosport, which is awarded to the best U21 men's player in Europe.

Bournemouth and Brighton both have two players among the finalists, making up half of the Premier League contingent. Eli Junior Kroupi and Rayan are in contention for Bournemouth, while Brighton have Luka Vuskovic and Charalampos Kostoulas .

Chelsea also have two shortlisted players in Estevao Willian and Jorrel Hato , while Manchester City's summer-signing Ayyoub Bouaddi is the other Premier League star on the list.

• 2025: Desire Doue
• 2024: Lamine Yamal
• 2023: Jude Bellingham
• 2022: Gavi
• 2021: Pedri

Lamine Yamal , the odds-on favourite for this year's Ballon d'Or, is ruled out because he has already won the award.

However, his Spain and Barcelona team-mate, Pau Cubarsi , named best young player at the summer's World Cup, is among the strongest contenders.

Barcelona have three players shortlisted, more than any other club, with Marc Bernal and Xavi Espart also included.

Real Madrid have two players in the mix with Yan Diomande and Endrick , while Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaire-Emery and Bayern Munich's Lennart Karl also make the cut.

Golden Boy 2026... meet the 25 finalists

Kerim Alajbegović (Juventus)

Marc Bernal (Barcelona)

Ayyoub Bouaddi (Manchester City)

Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona)

Yan Diomande (Real Madrid)

Endrick (Real Madrid)

Xavi Espart (Barcelona)

Estêvão (Chelsea)

Victor Froholdt (Porto)

Joane Gadou (Borussia Dortmund)

Jorrel Hato (Chelsea)

Finn Jeltsch (Stuttgart)

Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich)

Konstantinos Karetsas (Borussia Dortmund)

Charalampos Kostoulas (Brighton)

Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth)

Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal)

Saïd El Mala (Köln)

Jon Martin (Real Sociedad)

Franco Mastantuono (Fiorentina, on loan from Real Madrid)

Rodrigo Mora (Roma)

Gianluca Prestianni (Benfica)

Rayan (Bournemouth)

Luka Vuskovic (Brighton)

Every past Golden Boy winner

2003: Rafael van der Vaart

2004: Wayne Rooney

2005: Lionel Messi

2006: Cesc Fàbregas

2007: Sergio Agüero

2008: Anderson

2009: Alexandre Pato

2010: Mario Balotelli

2011: Mario Götze

2012: Isco

2013: Paul Pogba

2014: Raheem Sterling

2015: Anthony Martial

2016: Renato Sanches

2017: Kylian Mbappé

2018: Matthijs de Ligt

2019: João Félix

2020: Erling Haaland

2021: Pedri

2022: Gavi

2023: Jude Bellingham

2024: Lamine Yamal

2025: Désiré Doué

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