Ranking all 25 Golden Boy nominees by their average match rating in 2025
Youngsters from Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona are among the rising stars who’ve been nominated for the 2025 Golden Boy award.
The Golden Boy is an annual award, voted on by journalists, that is given to the most promising youngster in world football under the age of 21.
Crucially, once a player has won the award, they are no longer eligible to win it again.
Previous winners include the likes of Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham.
Last year’s award was given to Lamine Yamal, but who will follow in his footsteps this year?
Using the Sofascore algorithm, we’ve ranked all 25 of the nominees by their average match rating across all competitions from the past 12 months.
When ranking them by their average match rating, Real Madrid’s Dean Huijsen and Arda Guler come second and third, with ratings of 7.32 and 7.38, respectively.
Unsurprisingly, it’s PSG’s Desire Doue who comes out on top, with an average rating of 7.40 over the past 12 months.
The 20-year-old has enjoyed a sensational year, having won the quadruple last season and playing a key role in it.
He scored a brace in the Champions League final against Inter and for many, is the overwhelming favourite to win the 2025 Golden Boy award.
“At Rennes, we saw his technical ability, physicality, and personality,” PSG boss Luis Enrique told reporters earlier in the year.
“Now, he’s reaping the rewards of his hard work. There’s still plenty to do, but he’s at the right place and club to grow and play high-stakes matches.”
In terms of Premier League representation on the list, Chelsea’s Estevao and Man City’s Nico O’Reilly both crack the top 10, with average ratings of above 7.0.
Ranked at the bottom of the pile are five Premier League stars, who, despite having excellent years, don’t quite boast the same underlying numbers as some of their competitors.
From 25th upwards, the list reads as Archie Gray, Giovanni Leoni, Leny Yoro, Lucas Bergvall and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
It has to be stressed that average match rating algorithms usually favour attacking players, meaning the likes of Lewis-Skelly and Pau Cubarsi are somewhat hindered by this ranking.
It’s certainly not an exact science, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the final Golden Boy rankings look somewhat like this.
Here’s the full breakdown of each Golden Boy nominee, ranked by their average match rating over the past 12 months.
25. Archie Gray – 6.72
24. Giovanni Leoni – 6.73
23. Leny Yoro – 6.74
22. Lucas Bergvall – 6.81
21. Myles Lewis-Skelly – 6.86
20. Pau Cubarsi – 6.87
19. Warren Zaire-Emery – 6.90
18. Jorrel Hato – 6.91
17. Ethan Nwaneri – 6.91
16. Mamadou Sarr – 6.92
15. Senny Mayulu – 6.97
14. Rodrigo Mora – 7.04
13. Jobe Bellingham – 7.05
12. Eliesse Ben Seghir – 7.06
11. Aleksandar Stankovic – 7.07
10. Victor Froholdt – 7.08
9. Nico O’Reilly – 7.09
8. Franco Mastantuono – 7.12
7. Geovany Quenda – 7.13
6. Estevao – 7.17
5. Francesco Pio Esposito – 7.21
4. Kenan Yildiz – 7.24
3. Dean Huijsen – 7.32
2. Arda Guler – 7.38
1. Desire Doue – 7.40
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