by Newsroom
With the first update of the Golden Boy Football Benchmark Index, the list of the top 100 Under 21 players playing for a European team has officially started the race for the European Golden Boy 2024, an award won last year by Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham.
For the second year, in fact, the collaboration with Football Benchmark – the data & analytics partner of the award – allows for constant monitoring of the players’ performances, taking into account objective data such as playing time, transfers, performances in national teams, and at their respective clubs, which determine constant variations of the GBFB index and, therefore, of the list.
This first update (https://www.europeangoldenboy.com/golden-boy-football-benchmark-index/) takes into account the matches played up to March 27.
At the top is Lamine Yamal, a 2007-born forward from Barcelona, who is also the youngest in the GBFB Index, followed by Portuguese Joao Neves (Benfica) and Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United). The market value of this podium is €169.6 million.
Ligue 1 and the Premier League are the two most represented leagues, with 12 players each, followed by the Belgian Pro League (11) and La Liga (10). France is also the most represented country (13 players), ahead of Spain in second place (7) and England and Belgium (6) in third.
The club with the most players on the list is Brighton (4), followed by Barcelona and Ajax (3). Manchester United has 2 players, but both are in the top ten (Alejandro Garnacho 3rd and Kobbie Mainoo 7th).
The only goalkeeper on the list is Gabriel Slonina (KAS Eupen), joined by 23 defenders, 41 midfielders, and 35 forwards.
In the summer 2023 and winter 2024 transfer windows, 34 players on the list were involved in incoming market movements, with La Liga and the Pro League being the most active leagues (5 players each), while the Premier League is the league with the highest market value (€303.5 million total).
The publication of the new GBFB Index update is scheduled for Saturday, May 11.
