FC Barcelona, Golden Boy champions
Lamine Yamal, Vicky Lopez and Aitana Bonmatí (for the second year in a row) mean FC Barcelona were once again in the spotlight, as Italian sports paper Tuttosport announced the winners of its Golden Boy, Golden Girl and Golden Woman awards for 2024.
Four Golden Boys
The first Golden Boy was proclaimed in 2003, and he was Ajax midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. There have now been 22 editions of the prize for the best player in Europe under the age of 21, and a record four of them have been from Barça.
The Catalans have now moved ahead of Manchester United, who have had three winners (Rooney, Balotelli and Martial), while the only other clubs with more than one winner have been Ajax (van der Vaart and De Ligt), Atlético Madrid (Agüero and João Félix) and Borussia Dortmund (Haaland and Bellingham).
Barça's first Golden Boy was an 18-year-old Leo Messi. It would take 15 years for another one to come, and that was Pedri in 2001. But since then the Catalan capital has dominated the award, with Gavi collecting it the year after and 2024 bringing a fourth Barça winner in Lamine Yamal, who also happens to be the youngest recipient ever.
First Golden Girl
Wednesday also brought the club's maiden Golden Girl, an award first presented in 2018 and that went this year to the extraordinarily promising Vicky López, who recently extended her deal with Barça to 2028.
Golden Woman, 100% blaugrana
In 2020, Tuttosport also started naming its Golden Woman for female players aged 21 and over, and which no club other than Barça has ever won!
Lieke Martens started things in 2021 (the same year Pedri won the Golden Boy), and in 2022 there was another double as Gavi and Alexia Putellas were both honoured.
Since then, it's been Aitana Bonmatí all the way with wins in 2023 and 2024, which together with her two Ballon d'Ors, further cements her status as the greatest female footballer on the planet.
All of this is a clear reflection of the amazing work that goes on every day at La Masia, a never-ceasing conveyor belt of incredible young talent of both genders.