Real Madrid trio nominated for the Golden Boy award

Diomande recently moved from Leipzig to the Royal Club.

Three Real Madrid players have made the list of nominees for the 2026 "Golden Boy" award, handed out each year by Italian newspaper "Tuttosport" to the best young player in the European leagues.

Three names carry the Madrid banner: Ivorian Yan Diomande, Brazilian Endrick and Spaniard Thiago Pitarch.

To qualify for the 2026 award, a player must have been born after 1 January 2006 and be registered in one of the 25 strongest European leagues.

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Other big names crowd the list too, among them Lamine Yamal, Warren Zaire-Emery, Pau Cubarsi, Ayoub Bouaddi, Estevao, Lennart Karl, Ethan Nwaneri and Franco Mastantuono.

The preliminary list runs to 100 players. "Tuttosport" will update the ranking every month before cutting it down to 20 who will fight it out for the final award.

A panel of 50 journalists from Europe's most prominent media outlets decides the winner.

Frenchman Desire Doue, the Paris Saint-Germain star, is the reigning Golden Boy after landing the 2025 award, finishing well clear of Real Madrid's Turkish playmaker Arda Guler in second.