by Tommaso Strano
Yamal for Spain, Mainoo and Wharton for England: who will lift the trophy?
It has been the European Championship of the Golden Boy. The final, with the celebration of the clash between Bellingham and Yamal, is the clear representation of how our award and our index are the most reliable compass for talent.
Of the 10 players belonging to the Golden Boy Football Benchmark Index who took part in the German expedition, 3 remain: Lamine Yamal for Spain, Kobbie Mainoo, and Adam Wharton for England, and each of them has experienced a different European Championship.
Lamine Yamal, number 1 on our Index, from the first match at the Olympiastadion in Berlin – the venue of the final – has played a meter above the ground, barely touching the terrain as only the greatest can do. Starting as a favorite, Yamal from the first second of the competition has continued to break every precocity record, as he did in La Liga and the Champions League, becoming in order: the youngest debutant, the youngest assist-maker, and against France in the semifinal, also the youngest scorer. This European Championship has definitively confirmed the immense talent of the young Catalan, showcasing his maturity both in the defensive phase and in taking on the role of pace-setter: the accelerator and brake were under his control.
Opposite him will be someone who, unlike him, earned his starting position during the competition by fully exploiting his substitutions in the group stage: Kobbie Mainoo. The Manchester United midfielder has deservedly managed to reorganize both the ideas of the field and the formation of coach Southgate. In his first major competition, Mainoo is demonstrating the tactical and technical intelligence of a player with many more minutes under his belt, in a context like that of the Three Lions, which feels the weight of realizing a golden generation of talents – including the Golden Boy Absolute Best 2023 Jude Bellingham.
The emergence of Kobbie Mainoo has affected the playing time of his midfield colleagues, including Adam Wharton. The left-footer from Crystal Palace has not found minutes in the competition so far, but he has certainly gained significant international experience that will reflect in the next season.
The final is served on a golden platter, that of the Golden Boy Absolute Best, and the challenge between the next generation of phenomena is already here.
