The end of the year is approaching and it is the season for individual football awards, the most prestigious of which, the Ballon d'Or, will take place on Monday, November 29.
In the meantime, it is the Italian sports daily Tuttosport which has elected its Golden Boy, the best youngster under 21 playing in Europe.
The vote is entrusted to journalists from all over the continent, the Parisian being part of this panel.
In this game, it was the Spanish international midfielder of FC Barcelona Pedri who won.
The player from the Canary Islands, who will turn 19 on November 25, won with the biggest difference in votes in history by collecting 318 votes against 119 for his first pursuer, the English midfielder of the Borussia Dortmund Jude Bellingham, a difference of 199 votes.
“This year 2021 has been simply incredible for me, he relishes.
A big thank you to Barça, to the national team, to my family, to my friends and of course to all those who have been with me day after day and without whom I could not have won the Golden Boy.
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Pedri becomes the third Spanish player in history to win the #GoldenBoy ✨ the second player in club history after Leo Messi in 2005!
Crack @Pedri 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/7rfPTNHxOy
- 𝙁𝘾𝘽_𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨𝙁𝙍 (@FCB_NewsFR) November 22, 2021
Pedri was undoubtedly the revelation of the 2020-1921 season.
On all fronts, with Barça, the Iberian U21s, the A's at the Euro (elected best youngster and member of the typical team of the competition) and even the Tokyo Olympics where he won the silver medal. with his comrades from La Roja.
In total 73 matches (52 at Barça and 21 in the various selections).
On the other hand, Iniesta's successor has only played 4 out of 18 possible games since the resumption of the Championship.
A muscle injury should keep it away from the field until the beginning of January.
The young man is the first Barcelona to receive the “Youth Ballon d'Or” since a certain Lionel Messi in 2005. He succeeds the Norwegian center-forward of Borussia Dortmund Erling Haaland, crowned in 2020, and the striker Portuguese Atlético Madrid Joao Felix, crowned in 2019.
On October 14, Pedri renewed his contract at Barça until 2026 with a departure clause set at… one billion euros.