Top 10 contenders for the 2016 Golden Boy award

Golden Boy 2016 — Anthony Martial won the Golden Boy award last year

#1 Renato Sanches (19) – Bayern Munich

It says a lot about Bayern Munich’s commitment to developing young talent that two of the biggest contenders fighting for the title this time around play in Bavaria.

And while Coman’s has been a steady rise, Renato Sanches has had a meteoric rise ever since his introduction to top-flight football last season. Winning both the Primeira Liga and the Taca da Liga in his only season with Benfica, Sanches is considered to be a “steal” at €35 million by Bayern – such is his potential.

And this potential was there for the world to see, as the youngest ever footballer to play for Portugal took the unfancied team by the scruff of its neck and played an instrumental role in them winning Euro 2016.

Scoring a vital goal along the way, the powerhouse performances of Sanches in midfield endeared him to the global audience and left them in awe as to how an 18-year-old can have so much power and poise in midfield.

Definitely the most exciting midfield prospect in world football.