Ryan Gravenberch has a chance to win the Trophée Kopa, the prize awarded by France Football to the greatest talent under 21 years of age. The midfielder of Ajax can succeed Matthijs de Ligt as winner of the talent prize. However, Gravenberch, who was already voted Talent of the Year in the Eredivisie after last season, has competition from nine other nominated players.
France Football announces that Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Pedri (Barcelona), Jérémy Doku (Stade Rennes), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund) , Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund) and Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain) are nominated. The winner will be announced at the Ballon d’Or gala on November 29 in Paris, where a player will also be crowned the best footballer in the world.
The Trophée Kopa, named after former football player Raymond Kopa, has been awarded since 2018. In the first year, Kylian Mbappé finished on top, Christian Pulisic in second and Justin Kluivert in third. In 2019 Matthijs de Ligt won and Jadon Sancho and João Félix finished behind. The 2020 edition was canceled due to the corona crisis. A panel of 33 former Ballon d’Or winners, including Bobby Charlton (1966), Ruud Gullit (1987), Marco van Basten (1988, 1989, 1992), Pavel Nedved (2003) and Ronaldinho (2004), determines annually who is the greatest talent in the world. Unlike Tuttosport’s Golden Boy trophy, players outside Europe are eligible for the Trophée Kopa, although all nominees play in Europe.
Since his debut in September 2018, Gravenberch has played a total of 72 official matches for Ajax, scoring 10 goals and providing 8 assists. In the past season he made his definitive breakthrough as a controlling midfielder at Ajax. Gravenberch developed into an international: he was called up for the first time in November 2020 by then national coach Frank de Boer and made his debut in March 2021 in the lost World Cup qualifier against Turkey (4-2). A few months later, he also took part in the European Championships. The counter for the nineteen-year-old midfielder now stands at eight international matches.