Official: Barcelona defender, forward among the finalists for the 2023 Golden Boy Award

Barcelona will be looking to defend their Golden Boy Award crown for another season as left-back Alejandro Balde has made it into the list of the final 25 nominees.

Lamine Yamal is also among the nominees, but is part of the five wildcard picks nominated by the Tuttosport Editorial Team.

Real Madrid’s Arda Guler, Genk’s Bilal el Khannouss, Dinamo Zagreb’s Martin Batuina, and Benfica’s Joao Neves are also in the running as part of the wildcard picks.

Balde had an incredible breakthrough season under the tutelage of Xavi last season, as he took over Jordi Alba’s starting spot at left-back.

Eventually, he ended the 2022/23 La Liga season with a goal and six assists to his name.

Balde is among esteemed company for this award, with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Xavi Simons, Jamal Musiala, and Florian Wirtz also a part of the final list.

🎬👑 La lista dei 20 finalisti, stabiliti dalla classifica di Football Benchmark, e le 5 wild cards dei Golden Boy Awards 2023#tuttosport #footballbenchmark #goldenboy #goldenboy2023 #goldenboyawards pic.twitter.com/tWxl6SlU1I

— Tuttosport (@tuttosport) October 12, 2023

Real Madrid’s Bellingham is the favourite to win the award and will likely take over the podium from Gavi, who won it last year.

As far as Yamal’s position is considered, the 16-year-old was singled out by the award’s creator Massimo Franchi, who said:

“He is incredible, only 16 years old, born in 2007. He is a regular starter for Barcelona and even plays for the Spanish National Team. He has broken records of Pedri, Gavi, and Ansu.”