England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham has garnered the globe’s top young footballing talent at the 2023 Golden Boy ceremony, with Levi Colwill and Rasmus Hojlund both finishing in top ten for the prestigious best young player award.
The prestigious award, previously handed out to the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, is handed out to the best under-21 player for the past year and Bellingham, 20, finished second to Barcelona’s Gavi in 2022 but was named this season’s recipient at a press conference held in Italy on Friday. The official awards ceremony takes place on December 4.
After his announcement as this year’s winner, the Madrid star said in a message: “Thank you everyone for voting for me. I want to continue showing my potential, I thank my family and everyone who supports me every day. I hope more trophies will arrive very soon.”
Bayern Munich winger Jamal Musiala, Antonio Silva of Benfica, Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde and RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons filled out the rest of the top five, while Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund and Chelsea defender Levi Colwill finished between sixth and tenth.
Trophies were also handed out to Erling Haaland and Aitana Bonmati for the men’s and women’s Golden Player, respectively. This category of awards is for those over the age of 21.
Arsenal director Edu Gaspar won Best European Manager with Brighton’s Tony Bloom named Best European President.
Moises Caicedo’s agent, Ali Barat, was named Best Agent, garnering additional accolades for the Premier League.