Chukwueze Shortlisted for Golden Boy Award

The exploits of Super Eagles forward Samuel Chukwueze has not gone unnoticed as he has been named in a strong 80-man list for the 2019 Golden Boy.

The Golden Boy is an award run by Italian sports daily Tuttosport and handed out to a young footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year.

All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European nation’s top tier.

Chukwueze is one of Nigeria’s leading lights in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and before that was imperious for his La Liga side, Villarreal in the 2018/2019 season.

Nigeria’s U-20 captain Ikwuowem Utin was also named in the list of nominees to win the award following his promising performance at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.

The former Enyimba left back is now on the books of Israeli side, Maccabi Haifa whom he signed for before Nigeria’s campaign at the tournament.

Joining Chukwueze and Utin in the Nigerian contingent is Lazio’s Bobby Adekanye who recently moved to the Italian Serie A side from English Premier League giants and UEFA Champions League holders Liverpool.

The long list contains expected nominees like Matthijs de Ligt who is moving to Juventus from Ajax and is the current holder of the award; Phil Foden, Moise Kean, Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson Odoi.