Ryan Gravenberch and Jurriën Timber still have a chance to win the Golden Boy title. The Ajax players are the remaining two Dutchmen in the thinned shortlist of twenty players that is still there for the award, which is presented every year by the Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport. Myron Boadu (AS Monaco), Brian Brobbey (RB Leipzig) and Mohamed Ihattaren (Sampdoria) did not survive the selection.
Gravenberch and Timber are in an illustrious list, in which the competition for the price is not tender. Gavi, Pedri (both Barcelona), Rodrygo, Eduardo Camavinga (both Real Madrid), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Giovanni Reyna and Jude Bellingham (both Borussia Dortmund) still a chance to win the prize. Belgium also has a contender with Charles De Ketelaere (Club Brugge).
Gravenberch is a basic player in the team of Ajax coach Erik ten Hag for the second season in a row; Timber secured a permanent place last football year. Both players were included in the final European Championship selection of the Dutch national team last summer and have invariably been among the names that national coach Louis van Gaal has called on in recent times.
Should one of the two Ajax talents take off with the title, he will be in a row with compatriots Rafael van der Vaart, who won the very first edition of the election in 2003, and Matthijs de Ligt, who won the prize in 2018. the wait dragged on. Last year the prize was won by Erling Braut Haaland, who left runner-up Ansu Fati with 302 points against 239 points.
The twenty contenders for the Golden Boy award:
Karim Adeyemi (leased by Red Bull Salzburg to FC Liefering)
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)
Charles De Ketelaere (Club Bruges)
Gavi (Barcelona)
Bryan Gil (Tottenham Hotspur)
Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax)
Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
Daniel Maldini (AC Milan)
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
Nuno Mendes (leased by Benfica to Paris Saint-Germain)
Pedro (Barcelona)
Roberto Piccoli (Atalanta)
Yeremi Pino (Villarreal)
Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund)
Rodrygo (Real Madrid)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
William Saliba (on loan from Arsenal to Saint-Etienne)
Jurriën Timber (Ajax)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)