Alejandro buceta

The Golden Boy is an award established by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport, that is given by sports journalists to a young male footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year (two halves to two separate seasons). All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European nation's top tier. Apart from the main award, an additional one, Golden Boy Web, is decided by online users.

Rafael van der Vaart became the first recipient in 2003 by winning it at the age of 20 years and 304 days. To this day, he remains the oldest winner of the award. Lionel Messi is the only player to have won both the prestigious Golden Boy award and the Ballon d'Or. He received the Golden Boy in 2005 at the age of 18 years and 173 days, and remained the youngest winner until Gavi won the award in 2022 at 18 years and 77 days, who was also surpassed by Lamine Yamal in 2024, winning the award at the age of 17 years and 137 days. The current winner is Désiré Doué from Paris Saint-Germain FC.