Jude Bellingham Becomes Third English Player To Win Golden Boy Award

Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham has won the 2023 Golden Boy award.

The award is given to the best player aged 21 or younger and currently based in one of Europe's top leagues.

Bellingham has been an instant hit in Madrid since joining from Borussia Dortmund in June.

The 20-year-old has scored 13 goals in his first 14 games for the Spanish club.

Jude Bellingham is the 2023 Golden Boy award winner

IMAGO/ZUMA Wire/William Volcov

Bellingham netted 14 goals in 42 games for Dortmund last season.

The Golden Boy award was established in Italy by the newspaper Tuttosport in 2003.

Since then, the voting pool has expanded and now includes journalists from Bild, Blick, A Bola, L'Equipe, France Football, Marca, Mundo Deportivo, Ta Nea, De Telegraaf and The Times.

According to Tuttosport.com, Bellingham received 97% of all votes cast this year.

Rafael van der Vaart was the first ever Golden Boy winner.

Wayne Rooney then became the first English winner in 2004.

Other than Bellingham and Rooney, the only other English player to win the Golden Boy award was Raheem Sterling in 2014.

Bellingham is the third English player ever to win the Golden Boy award

IMAGO/Moritz Muller

Other notable former winners include Lionel Messi in 2005, Kylian Mbappe in 2017 and Erling Haaland in 2020.

Remarkably, Bellingham is the first player ever to win the Golden Boy award while playing for Real Madrid.

However, a Real Madrid player also won the 2023 Golden Girl award. That prize went to 18-year-old Colombia starlet Linda Caicedo.

Caicedo joined Madrid from Deportivo Cali in February.

She shone for Colombia at the Women's World Cup this summer, scoring two goals, including the official Goal of the Tournament.

Linda Caicedo is the 2023 Golden Girl award winner

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