Pep Guardiola has seen one member of his Manchester City first-team squad nominated for the 2025 edition of the Golden Boy award.City’s academy excellence continues to shine on the continental stage...
Pep Guardiola has seen one member of his Manchester City first-team squad nominated for the 2025 edition of the Golden Boy award.
City’s academy excellence continues to shine on the continental stage, with one name becoming the only representative from the Etihad Stadium recognised among Europe’s most promising young players this year.
Nico O’Reilly’s inclusion follows a breakout campaign that saw him firmly establish himself as part of Pep Guardiola’s senior setup while signing a new long-term deal earlier this year, keeping him at the club until 2030.
O’Reilly’s rise is emblematic of Manchester City’s continued focus on promoting talent from within. Having progressed through the ranks at the City Football Academy, the now-20 year-old has impressed with his composure, technical quality, and tactical awareness.
The Golden Boy award, established by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, honours the best young player under the age of 21 playing in a European top division.
Past winners include the likes of Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, and Kylian Mbappé, underlining the prestige of being recognised among the finalists. For City, only Mario Balotelli has ever claimed the accolade, doing so in 2010 albeit largely for his exploits at Inter Milan.
Now, as confirmed by Tuttosport this week, Nico O’Reilly has been included among the 25-man shortlist for the latest edition of the Golden Boy award alongside the likes of Real Madrid’s Dean Huijsen, Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Borussia Dortmund’s Jobe Bellingham.
The full 25-man finalists shortlist:
- Pau Cubarsi, Barcelona (18)
- Desire Doue, Paris Saint-Germain (20)
- Dean Huijsen, Real Madrid (20)
- Kenan Yildiz, Juventus (20)
- Myles Lewis-Skelly, Arsenal (19)
- Estevao, Chelsea (18)
- Arda Guler, Real Madrid (20)
- Franco Mastantuono, Real Madrid (18)
- Jorrel Hato, Chelsea (19)
- Ethan Nwaneri, Arsenal (18)
- Geovany Quenda, Chelsea (18)
- Warren Zaire-Emery, Paris Saint-Germain (19)
- Leny Yoro, Manchester United (19)
- Senny Mayulu, Paris Saint-Germain (19)
- Jobe Bellingham, Borussia Dortmund (20)
- Archie Gray, Tottenham Hotspur (19)
- Victor Froholdt, FC Porto (19)
- Lucas Bergvall, Tottenham Hotspur (19)
- Francesco Pio Esposito, Inter Milan (20)
- Mamadou Sarr, Strasbourg (20)
- Nico O’Reilly, Manchester City (20)
- Eliesse Ben Seghir, Bayer Leverkusen (20)
- Rodrigo Mora, FC Porto (18)
- Giovanni Leoni, Liverpool (18)
- Aleksandar Stankovic, Club Brugge (20)
Nico O’Reilly’s nomination caps a period of renewed focus from Manchester City on nurturing homegrown quality, with the England youth international following in the footsteps of Phil Foden and Rico Lewis as recent academy graduates to reach first-team prominence.
His recognition also signals growing international respect for Manchester City’s player development model, which has produced talent not just for the Etihad Stadium, but across the global City Football Group network.
With the winner of the 2025 Golden Boy to be revealed later this year, O’Reilly faces fierce competition from some of Europe’s most promising stars. While the award itself may go elsewhere, O’Reilly’s presence among the elite underlines the success of City’s academy strategy and his own potential to become one of England’s defining young midfielders.
Category: General Sports
