Joao Felix and three other Golden Boy Award winners who have fallen off the footballing map
The likes of Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal are among the recent winners of Tuttosport’s prestigious Golden Boy award for the best young player in Europe – but lifting that trophy is no guarantee of a great career. Just ask this lot.
Of course, it’d be difficult to argue that legendary players like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Pedri haven’t fulfilled their potential. But it takes much more than talent alone to make it to the top and stay there.
Here are four winners of the Golden Boy award who have fallen into the footballing wilderness.
Mario Balotelli
Messi is the only Golden Boy winner from the noughties still playing professionally in 2025.
The likes of Anderson, Alexandre Pato and Sergio Aguero have hung up their boots, while Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas immediately took the plunge into coaching.
Balotelli ushered in the 2010s fresh from moving to Manchester City, having played a fringe role in Inter’s treble triumph that year.
The Italian has intermittently delivered on that early promise – setting up Sergio Aguero’s Premier League clinching goal, scoring that banger against Germany at Euro 2012 and enjoying flashes of form at AC Milan, Nice, Marseille and two separate stints at Adana Demirspor.
But it would be fair to say that his career hasn’t quite planned out as expected. He was turning out in one of Europe’s major leagues last season, but he failed to score in just six Serie A appearances for Genoa but was released at the end of the season.
The 34-year-old is once again looking for a new club. Could a third spell in Turkey be on the cards?
Anthony Martial
Few would have believed that Martial would be playing his football out in Greece before turning 30. Especially back when he announced himself on his Premier League debut with that superb solo goal against Liverpool.
The Frenchman scored 90 goals across nine years with the Red Devils, and occasionally threatened to fulfil his potential (remember ‘Lockdown Martial’?) but ultimately fizzled out as a major disappointment.
He scored nine goals in 23 appearances in his debut season with AEK Athens.
Renato Sanches
Technically speaking, Sanches is currently representing the European champions. He’s just returned to parent club PSG following a second successive underwhelming loan away.
But you wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if we told you that Sanches was playing his football for some Qatar Stars League club you’ve never heard of, would you?
The midfielder has somehow spent his entire career in Europe’s top leagues (if we’re counting Portugal) but he’s basically a non-entity these days. A grand total of two league starts over the past two seasons is a testament to a career gone wrong.
Joao Felix
The Portuguese playmaker would argue that playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and presumably earning shedloads makes him a success.
Sorry, for all the star power and Ronaldo’s protestations that the Saudi Pro League challenges Europe’s major leagues, we’re not having it. Serious footballers don’t move to Al-Nassr at the age of 25.
What an absolutely bizarre career it’s been for Felix since he was rated as one of Europe’s top prospects at Benfica.
He’s represented Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan and we’re still left wondering what all the fuss was all about. We imagine his managers are thinking the same thing.
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