Nico O'Reilly has been nominated for the 2025 Golden Boy award and the Manchester City academy graduate is in good company.
Nico O'Reilly
Nico O'Reilly is enjoying a remarkable year at Manchester City
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Nico O'Reilly might not have made his England debut this week but that has done nothing to halt the remarkable momentum he has continued to build during 2025.
The 20-year-old spent the week with Thomas Tuchel's squad and was an unused substitute against Wales and Latvia as the Three Lions booked their spot at the 2026 World Cup.
Now back at City and seeking an eighth successive start for his club, O'Reilly's name was in prestigious company when he was nominated for the 2025 Golden Boy award on Thursday.
The award uses a data-driven performance metric to rank the world's top young players and is co-developed by Football Benchmark and Italian newspaper Tuttosport. O'Reilly was one of 25 nominees this year and its accuracy can be gleaned by a glance at past winners.
Since 2020, the title has gone to Erling Haaland, Pedri, Gavi, Jude Bellingham, and Lamine Yamal. The list of previous winners includes players who have gone on to have exceptional careers.
O'Reilly might be among the outsiders for this year's crown, but just being nominated speaks volumes for the year he has had. 12 months ago, he had made two senior appearances in his career and even at the dawn of this year, his first-team experience involved the Community Shield, two Carabao Cup ties and nine minutes in a routine Champions League win.
Now, he is classed as one of the best 25 young players in the world, alongside the likes of Desire Doue, Dean Huijsen, Kenan Yildiz and Arda Guler. Having signed a new five-year contract at the Etihad recently, the world is his oyster at the moment.
O'Reilly's run of consecutive starts will surely continue against Everton, but Rayan Ait-Nouri is expected to return from injury at some point in the next few weeks. He was signed to make the left-back position his own but has had a false start at City after his £31million move from Wolves.
Does Pep Guardiola turn to Ait-Nouri when he is available again, or has O'Reilly done enough in the past month to change the dynamic at left-back and make that position his, rather than the Algerian's?
It's going to be one of the most interesting selection battles ahead for Guardiola. O'Reilly could return to the bench, getting minutes at left-back and in midfield as a substitute, but his talent suggests that is unlikely to hold for long. Ait-Nouri suddenly has his work cut out.
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