Leeds United forward Wilfried Gnonto has been nominated for the Golden Boy award for the second year running. The Italy international made the final 20 shortlist in 2022, before ultimately losing out to Barcelona starlet Gavi and he is in contention once more this time around.
Gnonto enjoyed a fine debut season in the Premier League after making the move from Zurich to Leeds last summer. The 19-year-old went on to make 28 appearances for the Whites in all competitions last season, scoring four goals and while he couldn’t prevent United from being relegated from the top flight, he did establish himself as one of the brightest young talents in England.
His performances and potential have been recognised and once again he is in the running to win the prestigious award. The Golden Boy award is presented by Italian news outlet Tuttosport, with highly regarded journalists from across Europe having a say during the voting process.
The award marks the brightest talent under the age of 21 in Europe and it has previously been won by the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi. As such, just being nominated can be considered an honour and Gnonto will have aspirations of being able to add himself to that list.
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There has been a change to the process this year, with Tuttosport opting to rank players using their Golden Boy index. All but the top 20, plus five wildcards, will be cut later this year with journalist voting eventually deciding the 2023 winner.
At present, Gnonto is ranked at 70, which is ahead of a number of notable names including Chelsea duo Carney Chukwuemeka and Lewis Hall, Juventus’ Samuel Iling-Junior and Brighton’s Facundo Buonanotte.
Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala leads the index at present, but Jude Bellingham and holder Gavi aren’t far behind. Harvey Elliott, Rico Lewis and Levi Colwill provide English representation in the top 25, while Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Bynoe-Gittens is at 39.
Gnonto will hope to climb the rankings over the course of the next few months and his performances for Italy at the European Championships might be a good start. His future at Leeds looks uncertain at present following their relegation from the Premier League amid rumoured interest from a number of high profile clubs across Europe.
Joe Gelhardt was included in the top 100 last year, but as he is now 21 he is no longer eligible.
