Leeds United’s Wilfried Gnonto has made the final shortlist for the 2022 Golden Boy award. The forward is still waiting to make his first-team debut for the Whites, but he has been recognised as one of the brightest young players in world football.
Gnonto has been included on a 20-man list, made up of the best players under the age of 21 currently plying their trade at a European club. The 18-year-old is in prestigious company, with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Pedri, Eduardo Camavinga and Jamal Musiala also included on the list.
Joe Gelhardt was initially shortlisted for the award, too, but he dropped out of the reckoning as the list of players has been whittled down. Gnonto only made the move to Elland Road last month, joining on a five-year deal on deadline day, and his game time has come exclusively with the Under-21s.
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He bagged his first goal in Leeds colours this week at Sunderland and he’ll hope that bolster his chances of making a Premier League bow sooner rather than later. He’s no stranger to first-team football, though, having made 74 appearances in all competitions for Swiss side FC Zurich before his move to West Yorkshire.
The Italian bagged 12 goals during his time with Zurich and that was enough to capture the attention of Roberto Mancini, who handed him his first senior international cap in June against Germany. He has earned six caps for Italy since then, his latest coming in September.
Gnonto is also the youngest ever goalscorer for Italy, aged just 18 years and 222 days. It’s been a remarkable year for the youngster and capping it off with the Golden Boy award would be the cherry on top.
The award was established by Italian news outlet Tuttosport back in 2003, with journalists asked to nominate who they believe to be the most promising talents across the continent. Previous winners include Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
The winner will be announced on November 7.
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