Barcelona, the only club with two Golden Boys in a row

news banner image

The talent that Barca's squad boasts for the future is evident to see: they are the only club to have two back-to-back Golden Boy winners - Gavi y Pedri. Since this award started in 2003, no other team had had two of its players win it consecutively.

2 years ago
The Golden Boy, a trophy which 'Tuttosport' has given out since 2003, is normally considered the young-players' Ballon d'Or. Given to the best U21 player of the year, the winner of the 2022 edition was Barcelona's Gavi. This means that it was the first time that players from the same club have won it two years straight.
Last season, Pedri won it. The fact that two young midfielders won it shows the talent that the Barcelona side have to offer, despite being in a period of transition. In fact, they have been far from carrying out million-pound moves which has allowed the arrival of Lewandowski, Kounde and the rest.
Barca's double Golden Boy is also good news for Spain, which now becomes only the second country together with Brazil to have two consecutive winners. With the World Cup on the horizon, it is clear that Luis Enrique has the finest youth at his disposal, and a lot of chance of going for the main prize.
Barcelona, thanks to Pedri and Gavi, has also become the club with the most Golden Boy winners, with three, tied with Manchester United. The last being more in Xavi's era, when Messi won it in 2005. For the 'Red Devils', Wayne Roooney won it in 2004, Anderson Oliveira in 2008, Anthony Martial in 2015.
In the Kopa Trophy, it is the same story as the Golden Boy: Barcelona is the only side to have two consecutive winners. In this case, it is not as obvious, because it is an award which has only been dished out since 2018 and in 2020 it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we will have to wait a few more years for it to become clearer.
Those who have won it so far are Kylian Mbappe (PSG) in 2018, Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus) in 2019, Pedri in 2021 and Gavi in 2022. It is interesting to note that this is effectively the Ballon d'Or's son and 'France Football' give it out as well. However, 'Tuttosport's Golden Boy is still considered better, as it has been given out for 19 years.

Comments