2016 Golden Boy: Iwobi, Iheanacho In Contention For UEFA Award
Following their stellar performances for both club and country, Nigerian youngsters, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi have been nominated for Europe’s prestigious 2016 Golden Boy awards.
The annual award was established in 2003 by Italian newspaper Tuttosport to reward the exploits of youngsters under the age of 21 who have excelled in a calendar year.
The winner will be picked after votes by a panel of journalists from around the continent.
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Iwobi got into the Arsenal first team last season, and has become a regular for Arsene Wenger’s side this season.
He was voted the man of the match in the Arsenal’s 3-0 win over London rivals Chelsea, in a game in which he neither scored, nor directly assisted a single one of the goals scored.
His dynamism was instrumental in the Champions League on Wednesday as Arsenal defeated Basel 2-0.
Iheanacho has enjoyed a stunning year and helped fire City to a 2-1 win in the Manchester derby earlier this month, to become the youngest player to score in a Manchester derby
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The Nigerian had the best goals-per-minute ratio of any Premier League player last season and is one of only 10 players to have scored 10 Premier League goals before the age of 20.
The Nigerian duo will slug it out with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Manchester City’s Leroy Sane, Bayern Munich’s Renato Sanches, Inter Milan’s Gabriel Barbosa among others for the prize.
Manchester United forward Anthony Martial is the current holder of the award.
Past winners include Wayne Rooney (2004), Lionel Messi (2005), Paul Pogba (2013), and Raheem Sterling (2014).
