JUDE BELLINGHAM has won the Golden Boy award following a sensational year for club and country.
The Real Madrid midfielder, 20, becomes the third Englishman to claim the honour after Wayne Rooney in 2004 and Raheem Sterling in 2014.
Bellingham was one of 25 nominees that also included Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, Manchester United‘s Rasmus Hojlund, Brighton’s Evan Ferguson and Chelsea‘s Levi Colwill.
But it was no surprise that the ex-Borussia Dortmund man scooped the award after an astonishing 2023.
Bellingham began the year helping Dortmund push Bayern to the final game of the Bundesliga season, before an injury to the young star ruled him out of his side’s last game which they decisively lost.
Nevertheless, he finished the season with 14 goals and seven assists in 42 appearances.
He then joined Real Madrid in the summer for a British record £115million.
And the English superstar has begun life in Spain in a truly remarkable manner.
Bellingham has scored 13 goals and provided three assists in 14 matches for Carlo Ancelotti’s men.
He has also played five games for England this year, contributing two goals and two assists.
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The Golden Boy award has been handed out since 2003 when Rafael van der Vaart became the first recipient.
Other names to have collected the honour include Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European nation’s top tier.
Once you have won the award, you are not eligible for it again.
