Liverpool fans are ridiculing Arsenal after their youngster Neco Williams made the 40-man shortlist for the Golden Boy Award 2020, while our young star Gabriel Martinelli missed out.
The Brazilian was amongst the initial 100 nominees up for the award, alongside team-mates William Saliba, Trae Coyle and Bukayo Saka, and even made the cut for the final 60 as confirmed by TuttoSport, but with the list cut further by another 20, Bukayo Saka is our only remaining runner.
Fans are in uproar over the decision, but the fact of the matter is that the award is run over 12 months, and while much of Martinelli’s impressive performances came in 2019, as well as the fact that he is now ruled out until December at the earliest, he simply will not be in the running to win the award.
Liverpool fans are rejoicing in their opportunity to rub Arsenal faces in the fact that their youngster Williams has made the cut, although boasting that he made it despite his club not giving him opportunities should tell them that their club simply must do better.
The Reds may have won the league, but even Manchester City are better at bringing youth players through from their academy than the Anfield club, which is really saying something.
Neco will not be making the next cut unless he actually gets some opportunities this season, and judging by their opening squad that scraped a 4-3 win against Leeds on Saturday, that doesn’t look likely.
Bukayo Saka however has plenty of minutes under his belt despite only turning 18 during the previous campaign, and while he isn’t likely to beat the likes of Jaden Sancho, Erling Haaland or Alphonso Davies to the final three-man shortlist, he should be deserving of a place in the top 20.
Full 40-man shortlist as confirmed by TuttoSport:
Marley AKÉ, OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE
Adil AOUCHICHE, SAINT-ÉTIENNE
Benoît Mukinayi BADIASHILE, AS MONACO
Mitchel BAKKER, PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
Myron BOADU, AZ ALKMAAR
Dennis BORKOWSKI, RB LEIPZIG
Eduardo CAMAVINGA, RENNES
Marco CARNESECCHI, ATALANTA
Rayan Mathis CHERKI, OLYMPIQUE LYON
Jonathan Christian DAVID, LILLE
Alphonso Boyle DAVIES, BAYERN
Sergiño Gianni DEST, AJAX
Sebastiano ESPOSITO, INTER
Daniel Soares FÁBIO SILVA, WOLVERHAMPTON
Anssumane Vieira FATI, BARCELONA
Philip Walter FODEN, MANCHESTER CITY
Amine Ferid GOUIRI, NICE
Ryan Jiro GRAVENBERCH, AJAX
Mason Will John GREENWOOD, MANCHESTER UNITED
Erling Braut HÅLAND, BORUSSIA DORTMUND
Callum James HUDSON-ODOI, CHELSEA
Mohamed Amine IHATTAREN, PSV EINDHOVEN
Ozan Muhammed KABAK, SCHALKE 04
Michal KARBOWNIK, LEGIA WARSAW
Tanguy-Austin Nianzou KOUASSI, BAYERN MUNICH
Dejan KULUSEVSKI, JUVENTUS
Silva Santos MARCOS ANTÔNIO, SHAKHTAR DONETSK
Euclides Soares RAFAEL CAMACHO, SPORTING LISBON
Silva de Goes RODRYGO, REAL MADRID
Bukayo SAKA, ARSENAL
Jadon Malik SANCHO, BORUSSIA DORTMUND
Vladyslav Serhijovyc SUPRJAHA, DYNAMO KIEV
Dominik SZOBOSZLAI, RED BULL SALZBURG
Lago Pontes TOMÁS ESTEVES, PORTO
Franco TOMÁS TAVARES, BENFICA
Sandro TONALI, MILAN
Ferrán Garcia TORRES, MANCHESTER CITY
Christos TZOLIS, PAOK
José Paixão de Oliveira VINÍCIUS JÚNIOR, REAL MADRID
Neco Shay WILLIAMS, LIVERPOOL
Where do we rank Saka amongst this list of wonderkids?
Patrick
