The 2020 Golden Boy award shortlist was announced today and the Premier League was very well represented on it. Manchester United, as well as Chelsea and Arsenal, all landed three names each on the list, which runs 100 long.
Two more teams, Manchester City and Liverpool, saw a pair of their players named to the list, while the English top flight landed 18 as a whole. Joao Felix won last year’s award which honors the most promising, fastest rising U21 footballer in Europe’s top leagues.
Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund (a past and present United transfer target) are two of the strongest favorites to claim the plaudit this time around.
Sancho came close to winning it last year, but he could miss out again this time around as Haaland is truly the Next Big Thing when it comes to a pure goalscoring perspective. And is often the case with awards such as these, the ability to score often gets priority.
Premier League Footballers Named to 2020 Golden Boy Award Short List (in alphabetical order)
Max Aarons Norwich City
Tino Anjorin Chelsea
Angel Gomes Manchester United
Trae Coyle Arsenal
Phil Foden Manchester City
Eric Garcia Manchester City
James Garner Manchester United
Morgan Gibbs-White Wolverhampton Wanderers
Billy Gilmour Chelsea
Mason Greenwood Manchester United
Callum Hudson-Odoi Chelsea
Curtis Jones Liverpool
Gabriel Martinelli Arsenal
Michael Obafemi Southampton
Pedro Neto Wolves
Bukayo Saka Arsenal
Oliver Skipp Tottenham
Sepp van den Berg Liverpool
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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