"Golden Boy" from Bułgarska Street

The title of the “Golden Boy” is awarded every year by the world’s best journalists specializing in football, among them the editors of Bild, L’Equipe, France Football, Marka and The Times. Every journalist nominates 5 footballers who are rated in scale 1 out of 10.

The first edition of “Golden Boy” dates back to 2005 when Rafael van der Vaart was recognized for his great talent. 2 years later the journalists spotted the Argentinian rising star, Leo Messi. Among other winners of the award are Serio Aguero and Paul Pogba who are currently playing in top European football clubs. A year ago Renato Sanches was awarded the title of the “Golden Boy”. The Portuguese player won the European Championships that year and is currently competing for Bayern Munich.

This year’s nominees include the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italian goalkeeper), Gabriel Jesus (Brazilian midfielder), Kylian Mbappé (French midfielder) and Marcus Rashford (English forward). The listed footballers play for powerful European clubs on daily basis. Jesus joined Manchester City in the winter transfer window, Mbappé represents AS Monaco, while Rashford is a regular starter for Manchester United.

However, these aren’t the only footballers nominated for this year’s award. The list of nominees for “Golden Boy” 2017 includes 98 rising stars, among them footballers from Holland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, but also Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Bulgaria, and Montenegro. Kownacki is the only Polish player who was nominated for the award.

The 20-year-old has 25 appearances and 11 goals on his account this season. The spring round has been very successful for the youngster so far, with Kownacki scoring 6 goals in 8 games.

„GOLDEN BOY” WINNERS:

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