Shropshire Star

Golden future for Wolves' Ruben Vinagre?

Previous winners have included Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Paul Pogba – and now a Wolves player has been shortlisted for a prestigious European award.

Published
Andriy Yarmolenko of West Ham United and Ruben Vinagre (AMA)

Youngster Ruben Vinagre is keeping good company having made the 60-man shortlist for the Golden Boy award.

The 19-year-old been nominated primarily for his performances for the Portugal Under-19 team, who won the European Championship in Finland this summer. The Golden Boy award is an annual prize handed out to Europe’s hottest young talent.

All nominees must be aged under 21 and play in a European nation’s top league.

Vinagre has been nominated alongside PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe – who is hoping to become the first player to ever win it two years in a row – England and Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic.

Left wing-back Vinagre was on loan at Wolves from Monaco last summer and the Molineux men paid £2million to make it a permanent move in June.

He has featured three times in the Premier League this season and started the Carabao Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday.

Other former winners of the award include Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas, Mario Balotelli, Raheem Sterling and Rafael van der Vaart.