After the latest longlist of Golden Boy nominees was announced this week, I’m reviewing how Arsenal’s total of four 2021 nominees compares to other recent years, and how the previous Arsenal candidates for the award have gotten on since.
The Golden Boy award is an individual award for under-21s, which starts with a longlist of 100 nominees (40 nominees in 2016). That list is cut down through fan voting until a final decision by a panel of football journalists. Let’s go year-by-year and look at the Arsenal involvement in each list.
2021
Arsenal have had four players nominated this year, with Folarin Balogun, Gabriel Martinelli, and Bukayo Saka all featuring, as well as OGC Nice loanee William Saliba.
It’s worth mentioning that former Arsenal academy youngster Yunus Musah also makes the list, after his impressive progress with Valencia. The 18-year-old was always a player Arsenal wanted to keep, but he believed his best path to senior football was to leave the club. It’s worked out well for him so far.
2020
Once again, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, and William Saliba (this time on loan with Saint-Etienne) were all nominated for the award. On this occasion, they were rather surprisingly joined by Trae Coyle. Personally, I think Emile Smith Rowe would have been a more logical inclusion.
Obviously we know all about how the first three have done since their nomination, impressing with Arsenal/Nice to earn further nominations the next year. As for Coyle, he’s had a difficult season.
The 20-year-old initially spent time out on loan with Gillingham in League One, scoring four goals in 21 appearances (eight starts). But he was recalled in January, and spent the rest of the campaign playing for the Arsenal u23s. He’ll hope for a better loan move or a permanent exit this summer.
2019
Charlie Gilmour, Matteo Guendouzi, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, and Eddie Nketiah were all nominated for the Golden Boy award in 2019, Arsenal’s busiest year of the last five.
In the same summer as his nomination, Gilmour moved on to Norwich City. He signed a two-year deal and spent the first on loan with Telstar in the Dutch second tier, but the following summer he agreed to cancel his contract with Norwich, becoming a free agent.
After a few months without a club, Gilmour joined Scottish Premiership club St. Johnstone in February. He’s still settling in with his new side, only making three appearances for them so far.
Guendouzi obviously spent the 2019/20 season with Arsenal, making 34 appearances before a falling-out with club staff last summer. He then spent the last year on loan with Hertha BSC, and is currently sought by Marseille.
Willock has followed a similar trajectory – apart from the internal club disputes. He made 44 appearances for the first team in 2019/20, but struggled to break into the Arsenal team as regularly in 2020/21. He went on loan to Newcastle United in January, and you know the rest, with Newcastle desperate to bring him back this summer.
Nelson has spent both of the last two seasons with Arsenal, but perhaps he might regret not accepting a loan move last summer, only making nine senior appearances this season.
Nketiah initially went out on loan to Leeds United and scored five goals in very limited minutes, before returning to Arsenal and remaining with the club throughout Mikel Arteta’s spell. Unfortunately, he’s another to feature very little in 2021.
2018
Stephy Mavididi, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, and Reiss Nelson (again) made the list in 2018, though Reine-Adelaide’s nomination came after a loan spell with Angers.
Mavididi left Arsenal that same summer for Juventus, but after just one senior appearance for the club, he’s since moved on to France. Largely playing out on the wing on loan to Dijon, he scored eight goals and assisted two in 30 games in 2019/20. He then joined Montpellier in a permanent deal and scored nine goals in 40 games in 2020/21.
Now 23, Mavididi will hope there’s more to come in the next few years, but at least he’s playing regular football as a starter in one of Europe’s top-five leagues.
As for Reine-Adelaide, he’s also spent his time in France. He joined Angers permanently in 2018 and impressed in his first full campaign to earn a move to Lyon.
Though things started well with Lyon, the 23-year-old suffered a ligament injury and fell out with the club when they didn’t play him upon his recovery. He pushed for a loan to Nice, where he made 18 appearances before another ligament injury in February. His priority next season will be staying fit.
I’ve already covered Nelson, but I’ll add that ex-Arsenal academy player Chris Willock also received a nomination in 2018. The winger was playing for Benfica at the time, and after subsequent loans to West Brom and Huddersfield Town he joined Queens Park Rangers last summer. Playing in the Championship he made 38 appearances, scoring three goals and assisting five.
2017
Arsenal players didn’t receive any nominations in 2017. Donyell Malen is one glaring omission, given he went on to be so successful with PSV Eindhoven over the following four seasons.
2016
Alex Iwobi was Arsenal’s sole nominee in the 40-player shortlist in 2016. He’d just had his breakthrough season, and spent another three with the Gunners before moving onto Everton in 2019. He’s made 65 appearances for his new club, scoring four goals and assisting four.
Iwobi (Nigeria), Saka (England), and Musah (USA) are the only three of the above nominees to make their senior international debuts so far, and Iwobi has played by far the most. The 25-year-old is up to 38 appearances for his country.
Nominee summary
Arsenal
2021: Folarin Balogun, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba (loan)
2020: Trae Coyle, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba (loan)
2019: Charlie Gilmour, Matteo Guendouzi, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock
2018: Stephy Mavididi, Reiss Nelson, Jeff Reine-Adelaide (loan)
2017: –
2016: Alex Iwobi
Ex-Arsenal
2021: Yunus Musah
2018: Chris Willock
Clearly, it’s been encouraging to have four or five nominees in each of the last three seasons, particularly after having none at all just four years ago. Receiving a nomination is evidently no guarantee of success later on, but Arsenal’s 2021 nominees all look set for big careers in senior football. Let’s hope so, anyway.