The nominations for the Golden Boy award have been released, and the likes of Bukayo Saka, Florian Wirtz, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Jamal Musiala and Gio Reyna have all been included in the 40-player shortlist for the award this year.
However, it is difficult to see anybody else get the award than Barcelona and Spain midfielder Pedri. The 18-year-old featured for the Blaugrana throughout the 20/21 campaign, and gathered over 2500 minutes in La Liga.
He scored 4 goals and provided 6 assists across 52 all competitions for the club, and helped the team win the Copa del Rey trophy at the end of the campaign. Across all competitions, the young midfielder racked up more than 3500 minutes on the pitch for Barcelona.
Pedri had a passing accuracy of 88% for the club, and was one of the key players under Ronald Koeman as they managed to finish third in the table. However, that was the first step in him establishing himself as the best young player in the world.
Luis Enrique selected Pedri to play every game in Spain’s Euro 2020 campaign ahead of established midfielders like Thiago and Marcos Llorente. If that wasn’t enough, Pedri was also selected in the Spain Olympics squad for Tokyo 2020.
The 18-year-old made it to the finals with Spain, but ultimately ended up losing to Brazil. While other youngsters have shown their quality on the pitch, no one has been as influential for club and country as Pedri, and he fully deserves the award in recognition of his efforts.
