Renato Sanches beats Man United duo to win Golden Boy award

Bayern Munich and Portugal’s youngster Renato Sanches has won the European Golden Boy award ahead of his  teammate, Kngsley Coman, and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford

The annual award for the most outstanding Europe-based player not older than 21 years was instituted by the Italian newspaper Tuttosport.

“I’m beaming, this award has a global significance,” Sanches told Tuttosport.

“But I am down to earth, I have much to learn mainly from my fantastic team-mates such as Vidal, Xabi, Tiago and Kimmich. I dedicate the Golden Boy to my family. The Champions League? Bayern will win, there is no debate: we are the strongest team on the planet.”

The Portugal international will be given the award at a ceremony on Monday at Monte Carlo.

He made his full international debut for Portugal in March 2016 and was chosen for UEFA Euro 2016 at the age of 18, making him the youngest Portuguese to play in an international tournament. He scored a goal throughout the competition and won the Young Player of the Tournament.

Past winners of the award include Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, Paul Pogba, Mario Balotelli and Lionel Messi.