by pressroom
The list of finalists for the European Golden Boy – Absolute Best 2025 award was unveiled this evening at the Badia di Sant’Andrea, on the ‘Erzelli Hill’ in Genoa. The oldest boarding school in Italy — now home to the youth of the country’s oldest football club, Genoa CFC — provided an evocative setting that perfectly reflects the values and vision of this award. For the first time, the European Golden Boy has experienced one of its most important moments in close collaboration with a Serie A club.
The list features the top 20 players from the October update of the Golden Boy Football Benchmark Index (GBFB Index), a tool created in collaboration with Football Benchmark—the data & analytics partner of the award. The index continuously tracks the performances of Under-21 players from European clubs, using objective data such as minutes played, performances with their national teams and clubs, and transfer activity.
An additional 5 players ranked between 21st and 100th in the GBFB Index also enter the final stage of the European Golden Boy – Absolute Best thanks to Wild Cards, bringing the total to 25 finalists.
From this point forward, the international jury—composed of 50 journalists from all over Europe—will vote to select the winner of the Absolute Best award, which will be announced during a press conference in November, along with the names of the other award recipients.
Among the 25 finalists, 13 countries are represented. France and England lead with 5 players each, followed by Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Portugal (2 each). With 9 players, the Premier League is the most represented league, ahead of La Liga, Ligue 1 (4), and the Portuguese Liga (3). Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are the only two clubs with three players each among the finalists, all of whom rank in the top 10. The total market value of the 25 finalists exceeds €1 billion, amounting to €1,256.6 million.
During the event, the 10 finalists for the European Golden Girl were also revealed. This award recognizes the best Under-21 female footballer playing for a European club. Marta Carissimi, head of Genoa’s women’s sector, introduced the top ten Golden Girl finalists and gave an overview of the italian women’s football movement.
The announcement of the finalists was made even more special by the presence of several guests on stage, welcomed by Tuttosport director Guido Vaciago and Sky Sport journalist Federica Lodi. Thanks to contributions from Patrick Vieira (Genoa’s head coach), Andrés Blázquez (CEO of Genoa), and Federico Mari (Football Club Advisor), several topics related to youth football were discussed, including the importance of infrastructure and the different models for developing young talent across Europe.
Please note: In this update, Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal was still ranked #1 in the GBFB Index. However, the rules of the European Golden Boy state that no player can win the award more than once. For this reason, he is not among the finalists.
