Arsenal winger Marquinhos has been included in the 40-man shortlist for the 2022 Golden Boy award.
Run by the Italian publication Tuttosport, the award, selected by European football journalists and complemented by a separate fan vote, recognises the best footballer under the age of 21 playing in Europe.
Signed from Sao Paulo for just over £3 million this summer, the 19-year-old was initially earmarked by Edu as ‘one for the future’ but has quickly forced his way into the first team reckoning.
He enjoyed a debut to remember in last week’s 2-1 win over FC Zurich, opening the scoring before providing the assist for Eddie Nketiah’s second half winner.
Marquinhos wasn’t included on the original 100-man shortlist – likely because he wasn’t playing in Europe at the time – so we have to assume his 69 minutes on the pitch have been enough to see him jump the queue.
If you want to vote for Marquinhos, you can do so here.
Of the current Arsenal squad, William Saliba (at Marseille), Bukayo Saka, Folarin Balogun, Gabriel Martinelli, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Martin Odegaard (at Heerenveen) and Gabriel Jesus (at Man City) have all been nominated for the award in the past.
Golden Boy 40-man shortlist 2022
Karim Adeyemi, RB Salzburg, Nigeria
Jude Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund, England
Eduardo Camavinga, Real Madrid, France
Martin Baturina, Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia
Alejandro Martinez Balde, Barcelona, Spain
Brian Brobbey, RB Leipzig, Netherlands
Matteo Cancellieri, Verona, Italy
Anthony Elanga, Manchester United, Sweden
Harvey Elliott, Liverpool, England
Sebastiano Esposito, Anderlecht, Italy
Fabio Carvalho, Liverpool, Portugal
Fabio Silva, Anderlecht, Portugal
Ansu Fati, Barcelona, Spain
Gavi, Barcelona, Spain
Degnand Gnonto, Zurich, Italy
Ryan Gravenberch, Bayern Munich, Netherlands
Josko Gvardiol, RB Leipzig, Croatia
Henrique Araujo, Benfica, Portugal
Piero Hincapie, Bayer Leverkusen, Ecuador
Rasmus Hojlund, Atalanta, Denmark
Ansgar Knauff, Eintracht Frankfurt, Ghana
Castello Lukeba, Lyon, France
Marcus Marquinhos, Arsenal, Brazil
Fabio Miretti, Juventus, Italy
Yunus Musah, Valencia, United States
Jamal Muisala, Bayern Munich, Nigeria
Nico Gonzalez, Valencia, Spain
Nuno Mendes, PSG, Portugal
Pedri, Barcelona, Spain
Yeremi Pino, Villarreal, Spain
Gio Reyna, Borussia Dortmund, United States
Giorgio Scalvini, Atalanta, Italy
Benjamin Sesko, RB Salzburg, Slovenia
Jan Thielmann, FC Koln, Germany
Destiny Udogie, Udinese, Italy
Nicola Zalewski, Roma, Poland
Mathys Tel, Bayern Munich, France
Kiliann Eric Sildillia, SC Freiburg, France
Xavier Simons, PSV, Suriname
Luka Sucic, RB Salzburg, Croatia
Good for him, interesting to see how he’s going to evolve in the next months but he could definitely find playing time given our hectic autumn schedule.
On a completely different note, it’s a bit sad to see so few players from English clubs in the list.
On the English player point, it’s probably down to a European (mainland) focus which papers on the continent tend to have when compiling lists for these types of awards.
*English clubs point
Is Saka too good for this list or what?
Believe he goes by Starman now.
I‘d say with 21 you‘re no longer under 21.
What about Andy Carol?
Adeyemi is not from nigeria as he scored on his debut for germany!
Yes same goes for Ansgar Knauff, who is not from Ghana – he has Ghanaian heritage but was born in Munich
maybe it’s just me, but I don’t really like how young men are referred to as “boys” when they’re footballers. They’re definitely adults
Yeah, that bugs me too. One would (rightfully) be pilloried for calling a women’s professional football player a girl. How is the equivalent acceptable for dudes?
I think it’s a translation thing from Italian. Ragazzo, doesn’t have the same slightly demeaning vibe as boy.
Golden lad would work in English.