Lewis-Skelly features in PL-dominated Golden Boy shortlist

· Sky-PL

Arsenal and England midfielder Myles Lewis-Skelly has been included in the 25-man shortlist for this year's Golden Boy award.

Arsenal and England midfielder Myles Lewis-Skelly has been included in the 25-man shortlist for this year's Golden Boy award.

The 20-year-old is one of eight Premier League players in contention for the prize, presented by Italian publication Tuttosport, which is awarded to the best U21 men's player in Europe.

Bournemouth and Brighton both have two players among the finalists, making up half of the Premier League contingent. Eli Junior Kroupi and Rayan are in contention for Bournemouth, while Brighton have Luka Vuskovic and Charalampos Kostoulas.

Chelsea also have two shortlisted players in Estevao Willian and Jorrel Hato, while Manchester City's summer-signing Ayyoub Bouaddi is the other Premier League star on the list.

Last five Golden Boy winners

- 2025: Desire Doue - 2024: Lamine Yamal - 2023: Jude Bellingham - 2022: Gavi - 2021: Pedri

Lamine Yamal, the odds-on favourite for this year's Ballon d'Or, is ruled out because he has already won the award.

However, his Spain and Barcelona team-mate, Pau Cubarsi, named best young player at the summer's World Cup, is among the strongest contenders.

Barcelona have three players shortlisted, more than any other club, with Marc Bernal and Xavi Espart also included.

Real Madrid have two players in the mix with Yan Diomande and Endrick, while Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaire-Emery and Bayern Munich's Lennart Karl also make the cut.

Golden Boy 2026... meet the 25 finalists

- Kerim Alajbegović (Juventus) - Marc Bernal (Barcelona) - Ayyoub Bouaddi (Manchester City)

- Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona) - Yan Diomande (Real Madrid) - Endrick (Real Madrid) - Xavi Espart (Barcelona) - Estêvão (Chelsea) - Victor Froholdt (Porto) - Joane Gadou (Borussia Dortmund) - Jorrel Hato (Chelsea) - Finn Jeltsch (Stuttgart) - Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich)

- Konstantinos Karetsas (Borussia Dortmund) - Charalampos Kostoulas (Brighton) - Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth) - Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal) - Saïd El Mala (Köln) - Jon Martin (Real Sociedad) - Franco Mastantuono (Fiorentina, on loan from Real Madrid) - Rodrigo Mora (Roma)

- Gianluca Prestianni (Benfica) - Rayan (Bournemouth) - Luka Vuskovic (Brighton)

Every past Golden Boy winner

- 2003: Rafael van der Vaart - 2004: Wayne Rooney - 2005: Lionel Messi - 2006: Cesc Fàbregas - 2007: Sergio Agüero - 2008: Anderson - 2009: Alexandre Pato - 2010: Mario Balotelli - 2011: Mario Götze - 2012: Isco - 2013: Paul Pogba - 2014: Raheem Sterling - 2015: Anthony Martial - 2016: Renato Sanches - 2017: Kylian Mbappé - 2018: Matthijs de Ligt - 2019: João Félix - 2020: Erling Haaland - 2021: Pedri - 2022: Gavi - 2023: Jude Bellingham - 2024: Lamine Yamal - 2025: Désiré Doué

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