Iheanacho and Moses among the 40 stars shortlisted for Uefa's Golden Boot Award
SUPER Eagles strikers Kelechi Iheanacho and
Moses Simon have been nominated for the
Uefa 2015 Golden Boy Award handed out to
young players under the age of 21 years
playing in the top tier of a European league.
Designed to recognise good young talent, the
award has been won in the past by the likes
of Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Mario Gotze
and Paul Pogba. England's Raheem Sterling is
the current holder and this year's award
features 40 of the most talented youngsters in
the game including the likes of Liverpool's
Jordon Ibe, Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Arsenal’s
Hector Bellerin and the Manchester United
duo of Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw.
Highly talented, Iheanacho was voted the best
player at the U17 World Cup in December
2013, taking home the golden ball, while also
winning the silver boot for being the second
highest goal scorer in the tournament. He has
since signed for Manchester City and is
gradually working his way into the start-
studded teams starting line-up.
Iheanacho has been called up for Nigeria's
squad to face Swaziland in next month's
World Cup qualifier and is expected to be a
major part of coach Sunday Oliseh's future
plans. He is seen by many as Nigeria's
potential playmaker who can fill the vacuum
left after the retirement of Austin JJ Okocha.
Moses Simon, 20, who plays for Belgian Pro
League club KAA Gent is also a member of
the Super Eagles with five senior caps to his
name. He received his first call-up by coach
Daniel Amokachi in March 2015 and made his
debut on the 25th of the same month in an
international friendly against Uganda, scoring
his first goal for Nigeria against Niger on
September 8 in a 2-0 victory.
Nominees
English Premiership
Nathan Ake (Watford, on loan from Chelsea)
Dele Alli (Tottenham)
Héctor Bellerín (Arsenal)
Jordon Ibe (Liverpool)
Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea)
Anthony Martial (Manchester United)
Divock Origi (Liverpool)
Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
Adama Traoré (Aston Villa)
Spanish La Liga
Marco Asensio (Espanyol)
Zakaria Bakkali (Valencia)
Ángel Correa (Atlético Madrid)
Danilo Barbosa (Valencia)
Munir El Haddadi (Barcelona)
Alen Halilovic (Barcelona)
Sandro Ramírez (Barcelona)
German Die Bundesliga
Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich)
Dahoud Mahmoud (Borussia M’gladbach)
Francisco Rodríguez (Wolsfburg)
Pierre-Emile Hojberg (Schalke)
Adnan Januzaj (Borussia Dortmund, on loan
from Manchester United)
Max Meyer (Schalke)
Italian Serie A
Ricardo Kishna (Lazio)
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio)
Alessio Romagnoli (Milan)
French Ligue One
Mario Pasalic (Monaco, on loan from
Chelsea)
Adrien Rabiot (PSG)
Adama Traoré (Monaco)
Turkish Super Lig
Jason Denayer (Galatasaray, on loan from
Manchester City)
Dutch Eredivise: Anwar El Ghazi (Ajax
Amsterdam)
Gaston Pereiro (PSV)
Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord)
Portuguese Primeira Liga
Goncalo Guedes (Benfica)
Ruben Neves (Porto)
Kazakhstan Premier League
Nemanja Maksimovic (Astana)
Croatian Prva Liga
Marko Pajca (Dinamo Zagreb)
Belgian Jupiler Pro League
Moses Simon (KAA Gent)
Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht)
Serbian SuperLiga
Andrija Zivkovic (Partizan Belgrade)
SUPER Eagles strikers Kelechi Iheanacho and
Moses Simon have been nominated for the
Uefa 2015 Golden Boy Award handed out to
young players under the age of 21 years
playing in the top tier of a European league.
Designed to recognise good young talent, the
award has been won in the past by the likes
of Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Mario Gotze
and Paul Pogba. England's Raheem Sterling is
the current holder and this year's award
features 40 of the most talented youngsters in
the game including the likes of Liverpool's
Jordon Ibe, Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Arsenal’s
Hector Bellerin and the Manchester United
duo of Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw.
Highly talented, Iheanacho was voted the best
player at the U17 World Cup in December
2013, taking home the golden ball, while also
winning the silver boot for being the second
highest goal scorer in the tournament. He has
since signed for Manchester City and is
gradually working his way into the start-
studded teams starting line-up.
Iheanacho has been called up for Nigeria's
squad to face Swaziland in next month's
World Cup qualifier and is expected to be a
major part of coach Sunday Oliseh's future
plans. He is seen by many as Nigeria's
potential playmaker who can fill the vacuum
left after the retirement of Austin JJ Okocha.
Moses Simon, 20, who plays for Belgian Pro
League club KAA Gent is also a member of
the Super Eagles with five senior caps to his
name. He received his first call-up by coach
Daniel Amokachi in March 2015 and made his
debut on the 25th of the same month in an
international friendly against Uganda, scoring
his first goal for Nigeria against Niger on
September 8 in a 2-0 victory.
Nominees
English Premiership
Nathan Ake (Watford, on loan from Chelsea)
Dele Alli (Tottenham)
Héctor Bellerín (Arsenal)
Jordon Ibe (Liverpool)
Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea)
Anthony Martial (Manchester United)
Divock Origi (Liverpool)
Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
Adama Traoré (Aston Villa)
Spanish La Liga
Marco Asensio (Espanyol)
Zakaria Bakkali (Valencia)
Ángel Correa (Atlético Madrid)
Danilo Barbosa (Valencia)
Munir El Haddadi (Barcelona)
Alen Halilovic (Barcelona)
Sandro Ramírez (Barcelona)
German Die Bundesliga
Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich)
Dahoud Mahmoud (Borussia M’gladbach)
Francisco Rodríguez (Wolsfburg)
Pierre-Emile Hojberg (Schalke)
Adnan Januzaj (Borussia Dortmund, on loan
from Manchester United)
Max Meyer (Schalke)
Italian Serie A
Ricardo Kishna (Lazio)
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio)
Alessio Romagnoli (Milan)
French Ligue One
Mario Pasalic (Monaco, on loan from
Chelsea)
Adrien Rabiot (PSG)
Adama Traoré (Monaco)
Turkish Super Lig
Jason Denayer (Galatasaray, on loan from
Manchester City)
Dutch Eredivise: Anwar El Ghazi (Ajax
Amsterdam)
Gaston Pereiro (PSV)
Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord)
Portuguese Primeira Liga
Goncalo Guedes (Benfica)
Ruben Neves (Porto)
Kazakhstan Premier League
Nemanja Maksimovic (Astana)
Croatian Prva Liga
Marko Pajca (Dinamo Zagreb)
Belgian Jupiler Pro League
Moses Simon (KAA Gent)
Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht)
Serbian SuperLiga
Andrija Zivkovic (Partizan Belgrade)
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