Marko Grujic nominated for UEFA Golden Boy award
Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic has been named on the shortlist for the UEFA Golden Boy award.
Seen as the ‘Ballon d’Or for U21 players’, Grujic joins 39 of the best talents playing in European football today on the list organised by Italian publication Tuttosport.
Liverpool fans may be familiar with the Golden Boy award after Raheem Sterling won it when he was still a Reds player back in 2014.
National newspapers around Europe will nominate five players to win the award, awarding them points which vary on how impressive they think each young player has been over the last 12 months – 10 points for the most impressive, seven points for second, five for third, three for fourth and one point for the fifth-most impressive nominee.
Adjudicating newspapers include BILD (Germany), Blick (Switzerland), A Bola (Portugal), l’Équipe (France), France Football (France), Marca (Spain), Mundo Deportivo (Spain), Ta Nea (Greece), Sport Express (Russia), De Telegraaf (Netherlands), and The Times (United Kingdom).
The award was introduced in 2003, with the inaugural winner being Rafael van der Vaart, then of Ajax. Other notable past winners include Wayne Rooney (2004), Lionel Messi (2005), Sergio Aguero (2007), Mario Gotze (2011) and Paul Pogba (2013). Last year’s winner was Anthony Martial.