Ghana’s Ernest Nuamah and Christopher Bonsu Baah have been named to a list of 100 youngsters competing for the 2023 Golden Boy award.
The Golden Boy award was established by Italian publication Tuttosport in 2003 to recognise the outstanding under-21 footballers presently competing in Europe’s topflight leagues, as determined by the Uefa coefficient.
After Mohammed Kudus (2020), Felix Afena-Gyan, and Kamaldeen Sulemana in 2022, the nominations of Nuamah and Baah bring the total number of Ghanaians to be considered for the Golden Boy award to five.
Nuamah, a product of the esteemed Right to Dream academy, was a standout player for Danish giants FC Nordsjaelland in the 2022/23 season. He scored eight goals and provided four assists in 21 league appearances while contributing to a total of 19 goals across all competitions. Even though his team narrowly missed out on winning the championship to FC Copenhagen, his individual performance did not go unnoticed.
The 19-year-old’s talent is not only limited to club football; he has been instrumental for his country as well. He played a crucial role for the Black Meteors in their quest for U-23 Africa Cup of Nations glory and provided two crucial assists in the last round of qualifiers that propelled Ghana into the tournament.
In recognition of his immense contributions, Nuamah went on to win three individual awards – Danish Superliga Player of the Year by the league’s jury, Spring Best Player by Superliga head coaches, and Player of The Year by Superliga players.
Nuamah recently got his first senior cap with Ghana in an Afcon qualifier away to Madagascar on June 18.
Bonsu Baah is rarely known but quietly hitting the right nodes since moving to Europe with Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08 FF from Shooting FC in the Ghanaian lower tier just last April. He is an 18-year-old left-footed winger.
With the first list of 100 for 2023 announced on Tuesday, it will be whittled down over the coming months to 80, 60 and 40 before a final slate of 20 players and a winner is announced. Barcelona’s Pablo Gavi is the current holder of the Golden Boy award.
Below is a complete list of the 2023 Golden Boy award nominees:
| Name | Club |
| Jamal Musiala | Bayern Munich |
| Jude Bellingham | Real Madrid |
| Gavi | Barcelona |
| Antonio Silva | Benfica |
| Alejandro Balde | Barcelona |
| Xavi Simons | PSV Eindhoven |
| Florian Wirtz | Bayer Leverkusen |
| Benjamin Sesko | RB Salzburg |
| Devyne Rensch | Ajax |
| Giorgio Scalvini | Atalanta |
| Lucas Gourna-Douath | RB Salzburg |
| Arthur Vermeeren | Royal Antwerp |
| Rayan Cherki | Olympique Lyonnais |
| Harvey Elliott | Liverpool |
| Milos Kerkez | AZ Alkmaar |
| Rasmus Hojlund | Atalanta |
| Rico Lewis | Manchester City |
| Arnau Martinez | Girona |
| Emanuel Emegha | SK Sturm Graz |
| Elias Jelert | FC Copenhagen |
| Stefan Bajcetic | Liverpool |
| Martin Baturina | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Levi Colwill | Chelsea |
| Warren Zaire-Emery | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Martin Vitik | Sparta Praha |
| Ernest Nuamah | FC Nordsjaelland |
| Ismael Doukoure | RC Strasbourg |
| Zeno Debast | Anderlecht |
| Bjorn Meijer | Club Brugge |
| Johan Bakayoko | PSV Eindhoven |
| Mathys Tel | Bayern Munich |
| Alejandro Garnacho | Manchester United |
| Oleksandr Saputin | Zorya Lugansk |
| Robert Renan | Zenit St. Petersburg |
| Ariel Mosor | Piast Gliwice |
| Hugo Larsson | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| Matija Frigan | HNK Rijeka |
| Maurits Kjaergaard | RB Salzburg |
| Jamie Bynoe-Gittens | Borussia Dortmund |
| Fabio Mirretti | Juventus |
| Amane Romeo | BK Hacken |
| Bilal El Khannous | KRC Genk |
| Pavlo Isenko | Vorskla Poltava |
| Evan Ferguson | Brighton |
| Andy Diouf | FC Basel |
| Veljko Ilic | TSC Backa Topola |
| Christos Zafeiris | Norway |
| Julio Enciso | Brighton |
| El Chadaille Bitshiabu | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Hakon Haraldsson | FC Copenhagen |
| Lesley Ugochukwu | Stade Rennais |
| Stefan Lekovic | Crvena zvezda |
| William Clem | FC Copenhagen |
| Maksym Dyachuk | Dynamo Kyiv |
| Aurele Amenda | BSC Young Boys |
| Valdemar Lund | FC Copenhagen |
| Sael Kumbedi | Olympique Lyonnais |
| Johan Bangsbo | IFK Goteborg |
| Christopher Bonsu Baah | Sarpsborg 08 FF |
| Tommaso Baldanzi | Empoli |
| Peter Ratkov | RB Salzburg |
| Joao Neves | Benfica |
| Viktor Melekhin | FC Rostov |
| Lucas Hey | Lyngby BK |
| Youssoufa Moukoko | Borussia Dortmund |
| Elye Wahi | Montpellier |
| Romeo Lavia | Southampton |
| Victor Lind | IFK Norrkoping |
| Oscar Gloukh | RB Salzburg |
| Wilfried Gnonto | Leeds United |
| Noah Persson | BSC Young Boys |
| Filip Sidklev | IF Brommapojkarna |
| Otto Rosengren | Mjallby AIF |
| Tim Oermann | Wolfsberger AC |
| Arne Engels | FC Augsburg |
| Mathias Lovik | Molde FK |
| Marcus Baggesen | IFK Norrkoping |
| Arda Guler | Fenerbahce |
| Kacper Kozlowski | Vitesse / Brighton |
| Isaak Toure | AJ Auxerre |
| Alexander Busch | Silkeborg IF |
| Ervin Omic | Wolfsberger AC |
| Tobias Slotsager | Odense Boldklub |
| Luka Stojkovic | NK Lotomotiva Zagreb |
| Mouhamadou Diarra | RC Strasbourg |
| Facundo Buonanotte | Brighton |
| Kevin Kelsy | Shakhtar Donetsk |
| Arsen Zakharyan | FC Dinamo Moskva |
| Valentin Carboni | Inter |
| Odin Holm | Valerenga Fotball |
| Mohamed-Ali Cho | Real Sociedad |
| Samuel Illing-Junior | Juventus |
| Desire Doue | Stade Rennais |
| Ousmane Diomande | Sporting CP |
| Lewis Hall | Chelsea |
| Maximo Perrone | Manchester City |
| Matias Soule | Juventus |
| Carney Chukwuemeka | Chelsea |
| Luca Netz | Borussia Monchengladbach |
| Kevin Parades | VfL Wolfsburg |
