20-year-old Portuguese and Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix has been awarded the Golden Boy award for the best under-21 player in Europe, 2019.
The award was given to the former Benfica star, on Wednesday, November 2019. Although he is yet to fully establish himself as the main man for Atletico after his £113million, he has shown so far that he will be one of the best in the world in future.
Joao Felix who has scored two goals in 10 La Liga appearances for Atletico this season, beats all other promising stars to win the award.
Borussia Dortmund and England winger Jadon Sancho, 19, finished second with Bayer Leverkusen and Germany midfielder Kai Havertz, 20, third.
“I am very proud,” said Felix. “It is the second time that a player from Atletico Madrid has won this award and I am happy.”
The Golden Boy award was created by Italian newspaper Tuttosport in 2003 to recognise the best young player in Europe. Nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European nation’s top tier.
Past Winners:
2003: Rafael van der Vaart
2004: Wayne Rooney
2005: Lionel Messi
2006: Cesc Fabregas
2007: Sergio Aguero
2008: Anderson
2009: Alexandre Pato
2010: Mario Balotelli
2011: Mario Gotze
2012: Isco
2013: Paul Pogba
2014: Raheem Sterling
2015: Anthony Martial
2016: Renato Sanches
2017: Kylian Mbappe
2018: Mattijs de Ligt