Desire Doue Crowned 2025 Golden Boy, Succeeds Lamine Yamal

Paris Saint-Germain starlet Désiré Doué has been named the 2025 Golden Boy, holding off the likes of Real Madrid star Dean Huijsen and Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsí to be named as Lamine Yamal’s successor.

The award dished out by Italian sports paper Tuttosport goes to the best player aged 21 or under in a European nation’s top flight.

Barcelona’s 18-year-old sensation Yamal would naturally have been the favourite to claim the gong. The divisive Spain international finished second in this year’s Ballon d’Or among players of all ages but is not eligible after winning the 2024 Golden Boy.

Unlike Yamal, Doué crowned a triumphant 2024–25 campaign with Champions League glory, scoring twice in a dominant 5–0 thrashing of Inter Milan in the final. Yet, just six months earlier, the summer recruit from Rennes was at risk of getting left behind in his lofty surroundings.

Across the opening months of the season, Luis Enrique was still playing Ousmane Dembélé out wide, leaving just one spot on the flank which Bradley Barcola had possession of. Doué only started one of PSG’s first five Champions League matches, a run which saw the French giants claim a single win.

The fleet-footed forward came off the bench against Salzburg to score his maiden European goal in a 3–0 which set the tone for the rest of PSG’s continental campaign with Doué front and centre.