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The 2021 Golden Boy finalists list was revealed on Friday and USMNT star Gio Reyna’s name is on the list. The Golden Boy is an annual award voted on by 30 different journalists to determine the best under-21 player in Europe.
The Golden Boy was created in 2003 and has been won by notable names like Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. An American has never won the award before.
Reyna is the third American in the last four years to make the cut as a finalist for the honor. Here are the players he will be competing with this year.
2021 Golden Boy Finalists List
OFFICIAL: The 20-man nominees for the Golden Boy award:
Adeyemi
Bellingham
Camavinga
De Ketelaere
Gavi
Gil
Gravenberch
Greenwood
D.Maldini
Musiala
N.Mendes
Pedri
Piccoli
Pino
Reyna
Rodrygo
Saka
Saliba
J. Timber
Wirtz— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) October 15, 2021
- Karim Adeyemi (Red Bull Salzburg)
- Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
- Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)
- Charles De Ketelaere (Club Brugge)
- Gavi (Barcelona)
- Bryan Gil (Tottenham)
- Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax)
- Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
- Daniel Maldini (AC Milan)
- Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
- Nuno Mendes (PSG – on loan from Sporting CP)
- Pedri (Barcelona)
- Roberto Piccoli (Atalanta)
- Yeremi Pino (Villareal)
- Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund)
- Rodrygo (Real Madrid)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
- William Saliba (Marseille – on loan from Arsenal)
- Jurrien Timber (Ajax)
- Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Reyna’s appearance marks the second year in a row that an American made the final cut. Sergiño Dest was a finalist for the 2020 Golden Boy award and ended up finishing 14th in the voting. Haaland won the award that year.
In 2017, Christian Pulisic was a finalist and finished at a respectable sixth in the voting while Mbappé took home the award.
The 2021 Golden Boy winner will be announced later this year. Pedri is the clear favorite.
