Yan Diomande of Real Madrid
Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images
With the football awards season almost upon us, Tuttosport has released the list of the Top 25 finalists for the 2026 Golden Boy Award.
The prize recognises the best Under-21 player at a European club, and two Real Madrid stars have made the cut for the final 25 candidates for this year.
Indeed, summer signing Yan Diomande, who joined the club from RB Leipzig in a mammoth โฌ140 million deal, features on the list, currently occupying the fourth place in the rankings.
The 19-year-old Ivorian winger had an impressive breakthrough season at Leipzig in 2025/26 and is growing in stature at Real Madrid in recent weeks, earning him a nomination for the prize.
๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐! We present the ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฒ, the award celebrating the best U21 players competing in European football leagues https://t.co/9wpeiW48RV
โ Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyAwards) October 5, 2026
The second Real Madrid player on the list happens to be Endrick, who excelled during his loan spell at Olympique Lyon during the second half of the 2025/26 campaign.
As things stand, however, FC Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi is the frontrunner for the Golden Boy Award, followed by Ayyoub Bouaddi of Manchester City and Warren Zaire-Emery of Paris Saint-Germain.
The final list also includes Victor Froholdt (Porto), Rayan (Bournemouth), Jorrel Hato (Chelsea), Estevao (Chelsea), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Luka Vuskovic (Brighton), Jon Martin (Real Sociedad), and Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth), among others.
Also featuring is Real Madridโs defensive target for the summer Finn Jeltsch of VfB Stuttgart, while Barcelona duo Xavi Espart and Marc Bernal also make the cut.
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