Rasmus Hojlund nominated for Golden Boy award as Manchester United teammate misses out

Young Man United striker Rasmus Hojlund arrived at Old Trafford this summer from Atalanta in a multi-million dollar contract.

Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund remains in the running for the Golden Boy award after making the final shortlist.

This award is presented to Europe’s brightest Under-21 talent in a calendar year and was won by Rafael van der Vaart at the inaugural ceremony in 2003, the award has an illustrated list of honours.

Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé all won the award and Hojlund made it to the list of 25 finalists after an initial 100 names were narrowed down to the continent’s best young talent.

Hojlund joined United in a £72m deal from Atalanta this summer and although a back injury delayed his debut, the striker has now settled into life in the shirt red and he has scored three goals in eight appearances.

The 20-year-old scored twice in United’s 3-2 loss to Galatasaray and he admitted it was a bittersweet moment after the match. “It’s a little difficult. I feel both happy and unhappy,” Hojlund said.

“Of course it’s not about personal achievements, it’s about getting three points and at the moment we’re not good enough.”

Although Hojlund is on the final shortlist for the award, it is Jude Bellingham who is the favorite to win the award, which has been won for the past three years by Erling Haaland and Barcelona youngsters, Pedri and Gavi.

Alejandro Garnacho was on Golden Boy’s initial shortlist, but the winger was not included in the final 25-man squad.

Winners are selected through voting by journalists and the award ceremony will take place in Turin on December 4.

The Golden Boy nominees

Jude Bellingham, Jamal Musiala, Xavi Simons, Antonio Silva, Alejandro Balde, Florian Wirtz, Benjamin Sesko, Giorgio Scalvini, Rasmus Hojlund, Levi Colwill, Johan Bakayoko, Milos Kerkez, Arthur Vermeeren, Evan Ferguson, Lucas Gourna-Douath, Warren Zaire-Emery, Ousmane Diomande, Arnau Martinez, Mathys Tel, Andy Diouf, Arda Guler, Bilal El Khannouss, Martin Baturina, Joao Neves and Lamine Yamal.