Grading the past Golden Boys

2016 Renato Sanches

Renato Sanches

After impressing with Benfica in the Portuguese league, Renato Sanchez also starred in Portugal's unlikely EURO 2016 triumph and his displays were deemed worthy enough for him to be named the Golden Boy in 2016.

Sanches earned a transfer to German giants Bayern Munich, but it did not pan out to plan as he struggled for gametime and got a loan move to Swansea less than a year later.

In the EPL with Swansea, Sanches was atrocious and had one of the worst debuts in PL history as he struggled to complete even the most basic of passes, with the highlight being when he passed the ball straight into the billboard in a match against Chelsea which earned him a substitution at half-time.

His spell at Swansea was underwhelming and he was powerless to stop the Swans' relegation, failing to score a single goal in 12 matches.

Sanches returned to Bayern at the end of his loan spell and is slowly reintegrating into the team, being voted the club's player of the month in September.

Verdict - Could potentially get his career back on track after derailing it in the last few seasons

2017 Kylian Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe is a prodigy

Since making his professional debut in 2015 at the tender age of 16, Mbappe has had a career in just three years that many can only dream of.

He burst onto the scene with a starring role in Monaco's fairytale season in 2017 where they won the French league and made it to the semifinals of the UCL with Mbappe breaking a host of records along the way.

Since then he has become the second most expensive player in history, been named the Golden Boy, outperformed none other then Lionel Messi on the grandest stage of all, become the first teenager since Pele to score in a World Cup final, been voted into the FIFPro XI, nominated for the Ballon d'Or, won the inaugural Kopa trophy and become established as a global superstar. All this before he has even turned 20.

Very few players in history can claim to have made such an explosive start as youngsters - Pele himself, Ronaldo de Lima and Lionel Messi among them and if Kylian Mbappe should continue with this trajectory, he would undoubtedly reach the heights achieved by these icons.

Verdict - Surely on his way to becoming an all-time great

2018 Matthijs de Ligt

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