A left-back named Alejandro Balde has made it to the final 25 nominees for the Golden Boy Award. Barcelona will try to protect their title for another season.

Not only is Lamine Yamal named, but he is also one of the five “wildcard” picks made by the Tuttosport Editorial Team.

As wildcard picks, Arda Guler of Real Madrid, Bilal el Khannouss of Genk, Martin Batuina of Dinamo Zagreb, and Joao Neves of Benfica are also in the mix.

Balde had a huge breakthrough season last year, mostly because of Xavi’s help. He took over Jordi Alba’s starting left-back slot.

At the end of the 2022–23 La Liga season, he had scored one goal and set up six others.

Balde is up against some very good players for this award. Jude Bellingham, Xavi Simons, Jamal Musiala, and Florian Wirtz are also on the shortlist.

Bellingham of Real Madrid is the favorite to win the award. He will likely get on top of Gavi, who won it last year.

When Yamal’s situation is taken into account, the award’s creator, Massimo Franchi, said this about the 16-year-old:

“I can’t believe he’s only 16 years old and was born in 2007.” He starts most of the time for Barcelona and also plays for Spain’s national team. He beat Pedri, Gavi, and Ansu’s marks.