The Golden Boy award once again gathers a wide field of candidates. Past winners include Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Lamine Yamal, and the 2025 list contains a mix of established youngsters and fresh faces who have made notable moves or produced important minutes.

Warren Zaïre-Emery: A breakout figure across 2023–24, he made 32 starts for Paris Saint-Germain in a season that delivered four major pieces of silverware. Despite that, his minutes in the Champions League were limited as Luis Enrique favoured a midfield trio of Vitinha, João Neves and Fabián Ruíz. Zaïre-Emery finished 2024–25 with five goal contributions.

Franco Mastantuono: The young Argentine earned a reputation at River Plate and moved to Real Madrid in the summer. Mastantuono shone at the Club World Cup and Xabi Alonso entrusted the creative teenager with significant responsibility on arrival in Madrid.

Ethan Nwaneri: Called upon amid Arsenal injury problems, Nwaneri stepped in at the turn of the year. The Premier League’s youngest-ever player in 2022 delivered key performances in victories over Leicester City, PSV Eindhoven and Manchester City, operating off the right or infield.

Arda Güler: Carlo Ancelotti gave him only rare chances, but after impressing at the Club World Cup Xabi Alonso has made Güler a regular in the Madrid midfield. He is a versatile playmaker brought in to help replace the control lost with the retirements and departures of senior midfield figures.

Myles Lewis-Skelly: The Hale End graduate emerged as Arsenal’s breakout late in 2024, displacing Riccardo Calafiori and earning an England call-up in March, when he scored on his debut. His strength and fit for an inverted role helped his rise.

Estêvão: Seen on social clips and at the Club World Cup, the Brazilian agreed to join Chelsea after the tournament. He finished fourth in the 2025 Kopa Trophy and opened his Stamford Bridge account with a late strike that beat Liverpool before the October international break.

Dean Huijsen: After Bournemouth accepted Juventus’s offer, Real Madrid paid £50 million ($66.5 million) a year later. Huijsen was one of the Premier League’s standout defenders for the Cherries, though his early Madrid spell included two harsh red cards.

Pau Cubarsí: Barcelona’s defender finished seventh in the Kopa Trophy. He played a key part in a side that won three pieces of silverware and nearly reached the Champions League final, forming a strong partnership with Iñigo Martínez.

Kenan Yıldız: After his 2023–24 breakthrough, Yıldız was given Juventus’s No. 10 shirt and delivered consistent performances down Juve’s left flank, with several notable contributions coming in 2024.

Bayern Munich face a serious negotiation impasse with Dayot Upamecano as the defender weighs his options ahead of free agency. Club officials have publicly stated a desire to keep him, but recent suggestions of progress were dismissed by Christian Falk.

According to reporting, a basic agreement on salary exists but the dispute centres on a signing-on payment. Alphonso Davies is reported to have received close to €20 million (£17.4 million, $23.2 million) to turn down Real Madrid and extend last year, and Upamecano is seeking a comparable package. The gap between the parties is described as “very, very big”, and Bayern are unlikely to match the terms a player could command on a free transfer.

Florian Plettenberg says Upamecano will not lower his demands and has made it clear he would happily walk away next summer if the club will not meet his conditions. “Top clubs” are already moving, with Liverpool specifically named by German reporters and Fabrizio Romano listing Liverpool alongside Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain as potential suitors.

Interest from those clubs has reportedly been formalised with Upamecano’s representatives. The France international remains settled in Munich and would be prepared to sign an extension if his demands were satisfied, but he is free to discuss overseas moves from January.

The situation also sits within a wider market context: Upamecano and Ibrahima Konaté, former teammates at RB Leipzig, are among several central defenders attracting attention, and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi is named as another figure of interest to much of Europe’s elite, including both Liverpool and Madrid. Players who leave on free transfers commonly receive substantial signing-on fees, reflecting the ability of buying clubs to reallocate funds saved by not paying a transfer fee.

The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony produced notable upheaval across the men’s rankings, with Ousmane Dembélé claiming the main prize for the first time and becoming just the sixth French player to win. The winner had never been shortlisted for the award until 2025. On the women’s side Aitana Bonmatí secured a third-straight Ballon d’Or Féminin, matching Lionel Messi as the only other player to win the Ballon d’Or three times in a row. First-time winners in the women’s game for the Kopa, Yashin and Gerd Müller awards were Vicky López, Hannah Hampton and Ewa Pajor.

Comparing the 2024 and 2025 shortlists highlights large movements. Cole Palmer rose from 25th to 8th for Chelsea, an increase of 17 places. Vitinha moved from 27th to 3rd for PSG, a jump of 24 spots. Several players who were unranked in 2024 entered high positions in 2025: Ousmane Dembélé (PSG) to 1st, Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) to 4th, Raphinha (Barcelona) to 5th, Achraf Hakimi (PSG) to 6th, Pedri (Barcelona) to 11th, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (PSG) to 12th and Scott McTominay (Napoli) to 18th.

There were sizeable declines as well. Rodri (Man City) and Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid) fell off the 2025 shortlist entirely after seasons disrupted by injury. Rodri, notably, was on crutches when he accepted his 2024 award. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) dropped from 2nd to 16th, Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) from 3rd to 23rd and Erling Haaland (Man City) from 5th to 26th. Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan) moved from 7th to 20th, Florian Wirtz (in his final season at Leverkusen) fell from 12th to 29th and Phil Foden dropped off the shortlist.

Other active players who did not return to the 2025 list include Dani Olmo, Ademola Lookman, Martin Ødegaard, Federico Valverde, William Saliba, Antonio Rüdiger and Nico Williams. The reshuffle underlined how form, fitness and club trajectories altered perceptions between the 2024 and 2025 shortlists.