Featuring 18 Bundesliga prospects
Updated list: Golden Boy Top 100 with a new No. 1 – Only Porto has featured more often than BVB
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The“European Golden Boy Top 100 powered by Transfermarkt” has received its second monthly update. Transfers, new World Cup market values and performances on the world’s biggest football stage have led to many changes. There is a new number one, and players who have recently moved clubs – such as Yan Diomande (3rd), Konstantinos Karetsas (22nd) and Kerim Alajbegovic (28th) – are among the winners in the list of Europe’s greatest talents.
Borussia Dortmund's new signing Joane Gadou made the biggest leap, climbing from 76th to 65th place. Dortmund paid €19.5 million to RB Salzburg for the centre-back – his move from the third-placed team in the Austrian league to the second-placed team in the German Bundesliga was already the second major transfer in the career of the 19-year-old PSG academy graduate.
Market Value
J. Gadou
Centre-Back
€20.00m
Karetsas was a year younger and cost €11 million more when he moved from KRC Genk to BVB. The Greek midfielder has climbed from 25th to 22nd place in the top 100, and his transfer ensures that Borussia are represented by the second-highest number of players in the race for the Golden Boy award. Alongside Gadou and Karetsas, the Italians Luca Reggiani (39th) and Samuele Inácio (72nd) are also among Europe’s 100 greatest talents born in 2006 or later. The Dortmund quartet have a combined market value of 80 million euros.
Market Value
K. Karetsas
Attacking Midfield
€35.00m
Only FC Porto are represented more frequently than the Black and Yellows. Victor Froholdt (6th), Rodrigo Mora (34th), Oskar Pietuszewski (44th), William Gomes (51st) and Martim Fernandes (54th) have a combined market value of 150 million euros. Mora is likely to move to AS Roma soon, and if BVB wins the transfer battle for Cologne’s Said El Mala (17th), Dortmund could be the club with the most nominees in the next update ofthe “European Golden Boy Top 100 powered by Transfermarkt” in September. The Bundesliga is represented by 18 talents, making it the second-highest in the list ahead of Ligue 1 (14), Serie A (9), LaLiga (8) and Liga Portugal (8). The Premier League leads the way with 26 players in the ranking.
Barcelona remain at the top: Cubarsí replaces Yamal
Whilst Newcastle, like BVB, are represented four times, there are eight clubs with three players on the list: Arsenal, Brighton, Chelsea, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Paris FC, PSG and Barça. The Catalans provide both the previous number one, Lamine Yamal, and the new number one, Pau Cubarsí. As Yamal – the world’s most valuable footballer at €220 million – has already won the Golden Boy Award in 2024, and as this can only be won once, he is not included in the competition. According to the new TM quotient, he would currently be just behind the world’s most valuable defender.
Market Value
P. Cubarsí
Centre-Back
€100.00m
Both Cubarsí, who has climbed from 3rd to 1st place, and Yamal have seen their market values rise by 20 million euros in the World Cup update; however, Cubarsí edged ahead thanks to his performances on the way to the World Cup title. Diomande also currently stands a good chance of winning the award, having climbed from 4th to 3rd place following his €125 million transfer from RB Leipzig to Real Madrid. PSG’s home-grown talent Warren Zaïre-Emery (4th) and Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi (5th), who is being courted by Manchester City, are also promising candidates for the Golden Boy trophy.
Market Value
Y. Diomande
Right Winger
€90.00m
How it works: The road to the next Golden Boy
On 20 May, we launched the “European Golden Boy Top 100”– this list will be updated monthly from July onwards. Players who are currently missing from the list can still secure a place as the year progresses. The list includes all talented players born in 2006 or later who play in one of the 25 strongest European top-flight leagues. In October, the list will be narrowed down to the top 20, from which an international jury of experts will select the Golden Boy 2026.
The major new development for the Golden Boy this year is the partnership with Transfermarkt as the main partner. A score developed by TM will be used to decide who makes it onto the list of the 100 greatest talents from European clubs. This list will be updated monthly from now on.
Note:When you search for something on Google, you’ll see a box with the latest news alongside the usual results. If you set Transfermarkt as your preferred source, our content will appear there more often.Add Transfermarkt as your preferred source here.
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