In the football world, there is constantly talk about the most talented and promising football players who are expected to soon become the brightest stars of this sport. Since 2003, the most talented player in the world has been awarded the "Golden Boy" award, which is contested by all footballers aged 20 or younger. But did all the players who received this award become the brightest football stars in the world? After announcing the winner of the 2017 "Golden Boy" award, Eurofootball.com decided to find out how the careers of all the players who won this award evolved and who were the most famous players at that time who failed to win this title. Previously articles: 2003 - Rafael van der Vaart; 2004 - Wayne Rooney; 2005 - Lionel Messi; 2006 - Cesc Fabregas; 2007 - Sergio Aguero; 2008 - Anderson; 2009 - Alexandre Pato, 2010 - M. Balotelli, 2011 - M. Gotze, 2012 - Isco. The rest of this article will be continued next week. 2013: Paul Pogba Former team: Juventus Current team: Manchester United Paul Pogba started playing football at the age of seven, participating in training sessions at the nearby club US Roissy-en-Brie. The young talent spent seven years here, after which he moved to the youth team of US Torcy. Just a year later, he was noticed by scouts from Le Havre, and together with his team, he finished second in the French youth championship in his second year. As his team successfully played in the youth championship, Pogba also became of interest throughout the season and was invited to the French under-17 national team. On July 31, 2009, Pogba revealed that he was moving to the Manchester United academy. This step by the player surprised his former team Le Havre, with whom he had signed a cooperation agreement in 2006, under which the player had to sign a contract with the club after the 2009-2010 season. The following day, the French criticized Manchester United and Pogba's family on their website, and also announced that they planned to appeal to FIFA for breach of contract. Le Havre accused the player of leaving for England because he was offered £87,000 and a house, but Pogba denied this, and Manchester United threatened to take the French club to court for these accusations. The US Torcy club, from which the player left for Le Havre in exactly the same way as he left for England, also responded to the situation accordingly. In the end, FIFA decided that the agreement signed beforehand was not a contract, and Le Havre did not avail themselves of the opportunity to challenge this decision after they announced an agreement with the Red Devils for the player's transfer. In England, the defender gradually rose through the ranks - spending his first season with the U-18 team, the next season he was invited to play a few games with the reserve Man United team, but he still played with the youth team. Finally, before the start of the 2011-2012 season, Sir Alex Ferguson announced that Paul Pogba would start playing for the main United team. "If we don't let Pogba show what he can do, what do you think will happen? He will just leave us. When his contract with the team ends in a few years, he might go where he is given the opportunity to perform. So we are ready to give him the opportunity in the main team and want to see how he will use his excellent skills there," said the then Manchester United coach. Despite these words, in the 2011-2012 season, most of the time Pogba spent with Manchester United's reserve team. However, the coach gave him a chance to debut in the main team: first in the FA Cup, then in the Premier League, and finally in the UEFA Europa League. However, during the season, he was sent onto the field seven times as a substitution and played only 225 minutes in total. Many fans and football experts raised questions about why the talented player was not given more opportunities on the field, and these questions were answered the following summer. At the beginning of July, Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that Pogba did not extend his contract with the club and left his team for another. "As far as we know, it has been some time since the player signed a contract with Juventus. This is truly disappointing. To be honest, in my opinion, he showed all kinds of disrespect to our team. So I am even happy: if such players continue to behave this way, it is best for them to keep us as far away from us as possible," said the United legend in the summer of 2012. Although officially Pogba only joined the new team after a month, the Red Devils' strategist was not wrong - the player signed a four-year contract with Juventus. The player hoped to get more opportunities in the main team in Italy, and the club was ready to fulfill his wishes. The first chance the "Juventus" team gave to their new talent was on September 22, 2012, when the player spent the full 90 minutes on the field in a match against "Chievo". The team allowed the athlete to enter the field in the Champions League match against Shakhtar, and in important matches against Napoli, the player appeared as a substitute and scored his first goal for the Turin club from a long shot. Ten days later, he made an assist for the first goal and scored the winning goal in the match against "Bologna". After this match, the French player received many compliments from all major Italian media outlets. Paul Pogba's first goal for the Juventus team: At the end of the season, in the matches where Juventus secured the title of Italian champions, Pogba was involved in an incident for which he received a red card. An opponent tapped him on the face, and the Frenchman responded by spitting at the opponent. The referee saw this player's behavior and sent the young defender off the field. In his first year, Pogba had 37 chances to perform on the field representing the Juventus team and ended the year with five goals. In the summer, the defender turned his Italy experience into excellent play in the Under-20 World Championships. Alongside his national team, the Frenchman triumphed in the championship, and Pogba was named the best player of the tournament. The next season, the defender started fantastically: replacing the injured Claudio Marchisio in the Italian Super Cup match, within two minutes he scored a goal against Lazio's goal. The player later added a productive pass, and after the match, he was named the best player of the meeting. He continued his excellent form at the beginning of the season and solidified his place in the main Juventus team. Finally, in December, Paul Pogba received the 2013 "Golden Boy" winner title and continued his successful season. In the 2013-2014 season, the athlete played the most matches in the Juventus team (51 games), and on the field, he was noticeable and productive. The defender scored 9 goals and made 13 assists, and the team from Turin won the Italian Serie A title for the second year in a row. The wheel of the Italian champions was taken over by Massimiliano Allegri after the season, but Pogba's role in the team did not diminish. On the contrary, the player continued to be a key player in the team, and his contribution to the team was no less. In November, playing his 100th match in the Juventus team, he scored his first goal in the Champions League, and soon after, the footballer was among the 23 contenders to win the Ballon d'Or award. At just 21 years old, the player was the youngest contender on this list. The season was marked by a Champions League match with Borussia in which the player suffered an injury that forced him to miss two months of football. However, upon his return to the field, he helped the team to surpass Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final and played in the final of the tournament, where the team lost 1-3 to Barcelona. Due to the injury experienced in the Champions League match with Borussia in the 2014-2015 season, he played fewer matches, but in 41 matches played, he was productive - scoring 10 goals and making 11 assists. Before the new season, the player was given the number 10 shirt, and on the field, he was given the playmaking midfielder position, allowing the Frenchman to control the ball more frequently. At the end of the year, the player received the accolades from the previous season - he ranked tenth in the UEFA best player vote and made it into the symbolic eleventh in both UEFA and FIFA teams of the year. Playing in a more attacking position, the player scored 10 goals again during the season and finished the season with 16 assists. Alongside Miralem Pjanic, he was the most assist-providing player in Serie A, and with Juventus, he won his fourth Serie A trophy in a row. Paul Pogba's all goals for the Juventus team: In 2016, perhaps the most talked-about rumors were about a possible return of the player to Manchester United. Some saw it as a viable option, while others saw it as a ploy by the media to attract readers. Eventually, journalists who had written about the transfer could smile on August 8: Paul Pogba not only signed a contract with Manchester United but also became the most expensive football player in the world. For the player, United paid an impressive redemption fee reaching €105 million. It was later announced that the player's agent, Mino Raiola, also earned a huge sum for the transfer, receiving an amount of up to €27 million from Juventus. From that moment, the title of the most expensive footballer was taken over by Neymar. However, this did not prevent the player from making a strong start to the season - in the first four Premier League matches, he directly contributed to his team's four goals (2 goals and 2 assists), but an injury stopped the player's momentum. The player suffered an injury to his thigh and has since been unable to help his team. The most beautiful episodes of Pogba's play in the previous season: For the past five years, Pogba has been an integral part of the French national team. The player reached the final of the 2016 European Championship held in his home country, but the hopes of the French were dashed by the Portuguese celebrating victory. Despite being only 24 years old, the player has already played almost fifty matches representing his national team. Paul Pogba's career: 2009-2012 Manchester United - 7 matches; 2012-2016 Juventus - 178 matches, 34 goals; 2016- Manchester United - 57 matches, 11 goals. French national team - 49 matches, 8 goals. The most famous players of this age group (born in 1993-1994) who did not win this title: Romelu Lukaku, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Julian Draxler, Jan Oblak, Raphael Varane, Mauro Icardi, Jese, Mateo Kovacic, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, Marquinhos. Romelu Lukaku was one of the main contenders for the "Golden Boy" title. The striker was loaned to West Bromwich Albion, where he played 38 matches during the season and scored 17 goals, all of which were scored in the Premier League. However, he did not convince the Chelsea club of such a performance, and the player was once again loaned out, this time to Everton. Englishman Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played in the Arsenal team, where he gradually earned a place on the field. The midfielder played 33 matches during the season, scoring two goals and making five assists. Julian Draxler was another player who contended for the title of the most talented young player. The player shone in the Schalke team in the 2012-2013 season, scoring 13 goals and making 7 assists in 39 matches. Current Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak played in Spain's neighbor, Portugal in 2013. Despite belonging to Benfica, the Slovenian was loaned to Rio Ave, where he played 31 matches and impressed the Lisbon club with his successful performance in the Portuguese league, convincing them to give him a chance in the Benfica team. Raphael Varane was talked about as the most talented defender in the world in 2013. The player was already playing for Real Madrid, and despite his young age, he appeared in 33 matches in the 2012-2013 season and scored two goals. Mauro Icardi was the biggest discovery of the Serie A in the 2012-2013 season. The forward, who had played only two matches in the Serie B before, started the 2013 with a bang, scoring four goals at home against Pescara. He finished the season having played 31 matches scored 10 goals and made 4 assists, and that was enough for the player to leave Sampdoria and move to a more famous team - Milan's Inter. Jese dominated the 2012-2013 season in the Spanish second league, where he scored 22 goals and made 12 assists. His performance in the Castilla team caught the attention of the main Real Madrid team coaches, who in the summer of 2013 invited the player to represent the royal club, where his excellent rookie season was spoiled by a serious injury. Mateo Kovacic started his career in Dinamo Zagreb in 2012-2013. A standout performer for the club, he quickly convinced Dinamo to give him an opportunity in the first team lineup, and after playing 30 matches in Italy, he moved to the country where Mauro Icardi had already gone - Inter Milan, where he quickly played 18 matches and made two assists in the first half of the season. In 2012-2013, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco was given the opportunity to debut in men's football, representing the struggling Monaco club. At that time, the team was playing in the second division of France, and was ready to significantly rejuvenate its squad, and the talented Belgian quickly proved that he could successfully play at this level and in total in his first season in France he played 31 matches and scored 8 goals and made 7 assists. Together with the team, he won the Ligue 2 championship and earned the right to return to the top French league. Marquinhos started his first season in Europe in the 2012-2013 season playing for Roma. Within a year, he secured a place in the starting lineup of the Italian capital's club, and after playing 30 matches in Italy, he approached his price grew immensely, and already in January, he was paid almost six times the amount Roma had paid for him half a year ago, moving to France, to Paris Saint-Germain club. PSG paid €31.4 million for the defender.
