It’s award season once again in the world of football.
The Ballon d’Or nominees have been announced, and so have the Kopa Trophy nominees too.
For the fifth time, a player is set to be awarded the ‘best under-21 player in the world’ tag previously bestowed on the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Pedri and Matthijs de Ligt.
Here’s the ten young stars who’ve been nominated this year, and how 90min ranks them based on their likelihood of winning the 2023 Kopa Trophy.
Only 19 years old and already a regular for Benfica, Antonio Silva has enjoyed a metioric rise since 2022.
The centre-back has the frame of a player 10 years his senior, and looks set to be a star for Portugal for years to come.
As for being a star for Benfica…expect one of the European heavyweights to spend a bucketload to sign him in the very near future.
Linked with basically every single club in the entire world during the summer, it was Lens who eventually won the race for Elye Wahi’s signature – forking out a club record £30m for the striker.
Judging by his remarkable performances for Montpellier in 2022/23 – a season in which he scored 19 Ligue 1 goals – that could prove to be a bargain. The sky’s the limit.
Are there seven footballers who are better than Pedri on this list?
Absolutely not.
Are there nine players who you’d back to stay fit for longer than Pedri on this list?
Absolutely.
Following a stunning Kopa Trophy-winning breakout campaign in 2020/21, Pedri has struggled to stay healthy for long stretches of games.
Still though, when he is fit he is bloody brilliant (he is currently not fit).
Rasmus Hojlund earned himself a £64m move to Manchester United in the summer thanks to his performances for Atalanta and Denmark last season.
The striker has everything one looks for in a modern day number nine and his potential is outrageous.
Having bagged three assists and two goals in his first three games on loan at RB Leipzig from Paris Saint-Germain, it’s fair to say that Xavi Simons is one of the most in-from players nominated for the Kopa Trophy.
The diminutive wide forward is a joy to watch when he’s in full flight.
A full-back in the top five. Yes, we have done that, and yes we do think that it’s justified.
Alejandro Balde has become a key player for Barcelona over the last 12 months, and looks set to be for another 12 years too given that he’s only 19.
Is he a midfielder? Is he a full-back?
When you’re as good at both positions, it doesn’t really matter.
Camvinga has been brilliant wherever he has played at Real Madrid over the last few seasons.
16 goals and 16 assists during the 2022/23 season.
The numbers don’t lie: Jamal Musiala is ridiculously big time.
Last year’s winner is one of the favourites to win the award once again this time around.
Gavi followed up his breakout year at Barca by helping his team to their first La Liga title in four seasons in 2022/23.
The best young player in the world and arguably the best player in the world, period, right now, Jude Bellingham has become a true global superstar in 2023. He was still a teenager as recently as late June.
The England international has scored five goals in his first four La Liga starts and is so good that Carlo Ancelotti has essentially built his Real Madrid team around him already. He’s an astonishing talent, and the undoubted favourite for the 2023 Kopa Trophy.
