ATLETICO MADRID ATTACKING midfielder Joao Felix has been named the 2019 Golden Boy, after a strong start to his career at Wanda Metropolitano.
Felix joined Atletico for £113 million (€126m) back in July, after rising through the ranks at Benfica over the previous five years of his career.
The 20-year-old contributed 15 goals and seven assists to Benfica’s cause last season, and has picked up from where he left off at the start of the 2019-20 campaign in Spain.
Felix has been a standout performer for Atletico, racking up 13 appearances across all competitions in total and scoring three goals.
The Portuguese has now picked up this year’s Golden Boy award, ahead of Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Red Bull Salzburg forward Erling Haaland.
Felix has joined a prestigious list of past winners which includes Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe, with last year’s award given to Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt.
Sancho finished second in the final voting for the Tuttosport distributed prize, after helping the team fight for the Bundesliga title last term while also earning his first caps for England’s national team.
Bayer Leverkusen playmaker Kai Havertz came in third, one spot ahead of Haaland, who has earned plenty of plaudits for his goalscoring exploits in the Champions League with Salzburg.
De Ligt ended up fifth, while Barcelona and Manchester City teenagers Ansu Fati & Phil Foden secured sixth and seventh respectively, with the latter the Premier League’s sole representative in the top ten.
Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Roma, Nicolo Zaniolo and PSV forward Donyell Maylen also made the cut.
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