The initial rankings for the 2024 Golden Boy award have been announced and two Manchester United players have made the list.
The yearly Golden Boy award is a good gauge of who the world’s best talents are at any given point, with recent years seeing some very impressive winners such as Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland.
The award itself won’t be crowned until December, however, the initial rankings have already been announced which sees two Old Trafford-based names nominated high up.
Manchester United’s recruitment policy is also clear with several reported targets named on the list which indicates Ineos‘ desire to build a talented but young squad.
Where do Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo rank in Golden Boy nominations?
The Golden Boy Index have the latest updates on the race to be crowned European Golden Boy in 2024.
Alejandro Garnacho is the highest-placed United player in third, with a score of 90.0 – which is only 1.9 behind the leader Lamine Yamal. This means we can fully expect the Argentine to be in with a shot of actually winning the trophy, depending on how strong his 2024/25 season begins.
Garnacho is closely followed by his teammate and close friend Kobbie Mainoo who is seventh, with a score of 83.2 which is competitive with Savio who is now of Manchester City and also Leny Yoro who happens to be a target for United.
Several targets for Ineos also feature with Joao Neves second, Yoro fifth, Jorrel Hato ninth and Desire Doue in 34th.
As of now, United have the two highest-ranked Premier League players as well which is a testament to the work Erik ten Hag has done with his youngsters.
If Garnacho or Mainoo are to win the trophy, they’d join a few other Red Devils who’ve won it in recent history.
Every Manchester United player who has won the Golden Boy
The Golden Boy award commenced in 2003, and in 2004 Manchester United saw its inaugural winner in Wayne Rooney.
When he won the award, Rooney was an 18-year-old in the midst of a 17-goal debut season for Manchester United. With the intention of the award to identify the best young talent in the world, it certainly did that in 2004 as Rooney went on to become an absolute legend for the club, making 559 appearances along with scoring 253 goals – which is a club record – and making 139 assists.
The second winner from Old Trafford was less successful, with Anderson being the 2008 victor. The Brazilian was signed from Porto as one of Europe’s hottest talents however he just never quite lived up to the potential and retired in 2019 as a 31-year-old.
The final award winner from United was Anthony Martial, who triumphed in 2015 as his star was beginning to rise during his first season under Louis van Gaal. Despite not reaching the Balon d’Or heights that many predicted for him, Martial was still a success at Old Trafford with 90 goals and 47 assists in 317 appearances. Nine years on, he’s set to depart for free, but will long be remembered at the club as a cult hero.