Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov has slammed the decision to award the Golden Boy award to Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham.
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham has won the Golden Boy award for 2023. He has been voted as the best Under-21 player in the world by sports journalists. But, the decision has not gone down well with former Barcelona star Hristo Stoichkov.
The former Bulgarian international has slammed the decision to award the 20-year-old with the prestigious award. He feels Bellingham did not deserve to win the award as he has won nothing in 2023 with Borussia Dortmund of Real Madrid.
The Barcelona legend holds nothing against the player and feels he is one of the best talents in world football. Stoichkov believes Bellingham will challenge Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland for the next Ballon d’Or. Despite that, he was quick to mention the fact that he had won nothing in 2023 when asked about how he felt about the Real Madrid midfielder winning the Golden Boy award.
While talking to Tuttosport via Sport, Hristo Stoichkov said, “I do not dispute the value of English, He is one of the strongest talents in the world: he has a lot of class and a lot of brain. For me he is a mix between Laudrup, Kaká and the first Pogba. The future is his. He will fight with Mbappé and Haaland for the next Ballon d’Or, but I would like to know what won in 2023 between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. Nothing.”
According to the 57-year-old, had the England international won a collective trophy at club level, the decision would have made sense. While Bellingham has done wonders since joining Real Madrid in the summer, he has no end results to show for what he has done in 2023.
The 20-year-old had the opportunity to win the Bundesliga last season with Borussia Dortmund. The Black and Yellows had a two-point advantage heading into the final matchday. They had a home game against Mainz and all they needed was a win. But, unfortunately, they failed to get the job done, and Bayern Munich won the title on goal difference.
The Barcelona legend further said, “You know well what my friend Mourinho would say about ‘titles’… Do we want to talk about how the last Bundesliga ended? Borussia Dortmund had a two-point lead over Bayern with 90 minutes to go final of the championship.”
“They were playing at home against Mainz and the Bavarians were playing away in Cologne. What happened 5′ from the end? Tuchel brought on Musiala, who in the last minutes scored the 3-2 for Bayern while Borussia They did not go beyond 2-2 at home and said goodbye to the title due to goal difference…”
The former Bulgarian international was asked about who he thought should have won the award. Since Gavi was not eligible for the award having already won it, Stoichkov would have loved to see Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala or Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde win the 2023 Golden Boy award.
