Golden Boy award: Arsenal legend raves over French gem who’s ‘the best young player in Europe’

After the definition of the 25 Golden Boy finalists - which rewards the best under-21 player of the season - Patrick Vieira, World Cup winner with France in 1998, revealed who is his favourite to receive the honour: Desire Doue, one of Paris Saint-Germain's standouts in 2024-25.

In an interview with portal Foot Mercato, the Genoa manager pointed to the 20-year-old attacking midfielder as the most impactful gem in European football. As Lamine Yamal won the Golden Boy of last season, Vieira believes Doue is the ideal successor in the award.

"Desire Doue is the best young player in Europe. He not only scored in the Champions League final, where he showed all his talent, but also grew a lot at Rennes and continues his progression at PSG."

Desire Doue establishes himself as one of the world's best at PSG

Product of the Rennes youth categories, the Frenchman made his debut amongst the professionals in 2022-23. Since then, Desire Doue has emerged as one of the greatest promises of his generation - which motivated the Parisians to pay out a fortune in his signing.

Last August, PSG paid €50m (£43m) to take the attacking midfielder from the Rouge et Noir. After an adaptation start at the Parc des Princes, the Frenchman became one of the main names in Luis Enrique's team.

Doue was awarded as the revelation of the latest edition of Ligue 1, however, his moment of greatest prominence came in the Champions League final. In the 5-0 rout over Inter, PSG's number 14 scored two goals, provided one assist and received UEFA's award for best player of the final.

With spells in France's youth teams, the attacking midfielder was European Under-17 Championship winner and silver medallist at the Paris Olympic Games. This year, Doue made his debut for Les Bleus and became a constant name in Didier Deschamps' call-ups.

In the 2025 Ballon d'Or, the Frenchman finished in 14th position amongst the world's best players. Less than a year before the World Cup, Desire Doue is an undisputed starter for the Parisians and hopes to be remembered in the final list to travel to the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"He is a young player with much talent [...] I think Desire Doue is the best amongst the world's best," concluded Patrick Vieira.

Golden Boy 2025 finalists

Held since 2003 by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, the Golden Boy is one of Europe's most traditional awards. Names such as Lionel Messi (2005), Alexandre Pato (2009), Kylian Mbappe (2017) and Jude Bellingham (2023) have already received the honour.

See below the competitors for the 2025 award for the best under-21 athlete who plays in UEFA's top 25 league :