Lamine Yamal has been named the winner of the Golden Boy award for 2024
The Spain and Barcelona star wins the award aged just 17 years and four months
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By DOMINIC HOGAN
Published: 13:06 EST, 27 November 2024 | Updated: 13:06 EST, 27 November 2024
Lamine Yamal has made history with his record-breaking Golden Boy Award after announcing himself on the scene in style in 2024.
The Golden Boy award is given each year to the young player that has shown themselves to be head and shoulders above the rest, as a sort of Ballon d'Or equivalent for youths in the top leagues.
It is an award that has been handed out to the likes of Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe over its 20-year history, with England superstar Jude Bellingham the current holder of the title.
In total, English players have won the award on three occasions - Raheem Sterling the other Three Lions star to have done so back in 2014 - but there were four more nominated this season in a stacked list of contenders.
There was stiff competition this term, with Adam Wharton, Kobbie Mainoo, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Rico Lewis all up for the gong, along with the likes of Warren Zaire-Emery, Alejandro Garnacho, Savio and Arda Guler.
Yet it was Yamal, the 17-year-old who helped power La Roja to European Championship glory over the summer, who was deemed the best of them all.
Lamine Yamal has become the youngest ever player to win the prestigious Golden Boy award
Yamal was a crucial part of Luis De La Fuente's European Championship-winning team this summer
Golden Boy winners
2015 Anthony Martial (Monaco/Man United)
2016 Renato Sanches (Benfica/Bayern)
2017 Kylian Mbappe (Monaco/PSG)
2018 Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax)
2019 Joao Felix (Benfica/Atletico Madrid)
2020 Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
2021 Pedri (Barcelona)
2022 Gavi (Barcelona)
2023 Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid)
2024 Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
And in doing so at 17, four months and 14 days, he has in fact become the youngest to ever lift the prestigious award, his team-mate for both Barcelona and Spain Gavi the previous holder.
During that Euros campaign Yamal scored once - a screamer against France - and provided a further four assists.
He and Nico Williams provided Spain with a frightful double axis of assault on almost every team that they faced, eventually defeating England in the final to win the competition for a record fourth time.
This campaign his meteoric rise continued apace, with a further six goals and eight assists in 16 appearances in all competitions for 2024-25, truly electrifying numbers, his age notwithstanding.
In fact, his tally of five goals and seven assists in LaLiga has already matched that of last term, with Hansi Flick's side flying in the Spanish top-flight, four clear of Real Madrid with a game in hand.
Yamal's lethal pace and dribbling have left defenders all at sea in a glittering 2024 that has seen him become not just one of the best young players in the world, but among the elite wingers in the global game.
In total, Yamal made 50 appearances for Barcelona, despite only turning 17 in July.
He will not receive the award officially until a ceremony in December, with his fellow Barcelona starlet Vicky Lopez taking home the Golden Girl award.
The full list of those nominated for 2024 was: Yamal, Zaire-Emery, Garnacho, Mainoo, Wharton, Bynoe-Gittens, Lewis, Savio, Guler, Oscar Gloukh, Joao Neves, Leny Yoro, Samu Omorodion, Desire Doue, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Jorrel Hato, Kenan Yildiz, Cristhian Mosquera and Mathys Tel.