A month after the official presentation of the Golden Boy Index, the updated version is now available featuring the list of the top 100 Under 21 players from European clubs.
The update, powered by the “humanized algorithm” developed by Football Benchmark and Tuttosport in collaboration with the international jury of journalists, takes into account matches played up until July 17th (domestic leagues, European competitions, and international tournaments).
The new index includes 4 goalkeepers, 32 defenders, 42 midfielders, and 22 forwards. The three most represented nations are France (16 players), Denmark (9), and England (7). The provisional rankings show no changes in the top three positions, with Musiala still leading ahead of Bellingham and Gavi. However, it’s noteworthy that the market value of these three players has increased by 20 million euros since June (now totaling 441.9 million euros).
Ligue 1, which has the highest number of players in the index, has been the most active in the transfer market, adding 4 players to the 14 who were already present a month ago. Bundesliga follows with 12 players (2 more than the 10 in June). Interestingly, the Premier League has lost 3 players from the 13 present in the index a month ago during this initial transfer phase. However, the Bundesliga still leads with 4 players in the top 10 of the Index. The German top league also holds just under 25% of the total market value of the listed players (438 million out of 1.8 billion euros).
Among the clubs, Redbull Salzburg maintains the highest number of players in the list (4), followed by Brighton, Copenhagen, Juventus, and Leipzig (3).
Compared to the Index presented on June 20th, there are 7 new entries, including Ricardo Pepi, who enters directly at the 46th position. Arda Guler, on the other hand, is the player who has climbed the most positions in the rankings (rising from 78th to 16th), largely due to his transfer to Real Madrid. Additionally, there have been transfers for a total of 17 players from this list, either on a permanent (12) or temporary (5) basis. Finally, representing two nations that were not present in the initial list are Algerian Bouanani (Nice) and Greek Konstantelias (Paok Thessaloniki).
Further updates on the market of the most talented players in Europe will be provided in a month, coinciding with the release of the August Index.
