Kylian Mbappé once won the Golden Boy award, with Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott on the list this year. A fellow nominee has surpassed the Frenchman in one area.
The 100-man long list for the 2023 Golden Boy was released this week, with the prestigious award won by the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Wayne Rooney in the past. Barcelona’s Gavi secured the honour in 2022 and this time around, it seems he is among the contenders to win it again.
The award is given to the best under-21 player in Europe’s major leagues, and the winner is decided by votes on the website of Italian publication Tuttosport — organizers of the competition — as well as a selection of European journalists. This year, a new algorithm will first thin the selection down to a final 20, to which five wildcards will be added.
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The winner seems unlikely to originate from the Premier League this year, although the highest-ranked player on the list from England’s top flight is contracted to Liverpool in Harvey Elliott. The Reds youngster places 14th on the index, ahead of Manchester City’s Rico Lewis in 17th, followed by a certain Stefan Bajčetić in 21st.
Many of the brightest prospects in the sport have a place on the list, with Elliott’s rank potentially providing Jürgen Klopp with a transfer hint. The Liverpool midfielder is 14th but just one place ahead of him is a player by the name of Rayan Cherki, who has prospered at Lyon this term.
Indeed, the Frenchman has experienced a breakthrough campaign in his homeland, making 34 appearances in Ligue 1 after featuring in just 16 matches in the previous season. Cherki is still just 19 years old, but he’s an exciting talent to follow and one who could be of interest to the Reds.
The two-footed technician has spent much of the past year playing at the tip of a midfield diamond for Lyon, although he’s also gained experience as a wide forward. The teenage starlet scored four goals and registered six assists in Ligue 1 this season, but his ability to influence attacking moves — rather than concluding them — is what has been the most impressive element attached to his game.
Simply put, Cherki is very good at progressing the play in a variety of different ways. Only four players in France completed more successful dribbles than him this season, with Messi being one of them at the very top of the tree. The Lyon talisman posted a total of 79, which ranked him one place above Mbappé on 74, even though the Paris Saint-Germain superstar played far more minutes.
Cherki also placed third in Ligue 1 for progressive carries behind only Mbappé and Moses Simon, and he placed second for carries into the penalty box. The wonderkid is an expert at moving the ball forward in a dynamic manner, and he can also have the same impact through his passing.
Players who regularly occupy the final third don’t tend to play very many progressive passes due to the nature of their advanced positioning, but Cherki accumulated 144, averaging around 6.9 per 90 minutes. For context, global icons Messi and Neymar both averaged around 9.5 per 90, with Kevin De Bruyne top of the Premier League among attacking players on 9.1.