The Golden Boy is a mixed bag when it comes to predicting football's next big star.On the one hand, there have been plenty of players to have collected the gong and lived up to the hype such as Sergio Aguero, Cesc Fabregas, Kylian Mbappe and some guy called Lionel Messi.However, there have also been some false dawns with Mario Balotelli, Renato Sanches and Anderson proving cases where they couldn't reach the heights expected of them.

Haaland's incredible 2020

But you get a strong feeling that Erling Braut Haaland will be joining the first category as opposed to the second after becoming the latest recipient of the Golden Boy award this week.

The Borussia Dortmund striker has been on a clear path to stardom with an astonishing goal-scoring record that sees himself ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi when they were his age.

Haaland burst onto the scene with 28 goals in 22 games for Red Bull Salzburg last season, before securing a move to the Bundesliga that did little to halt his astronomical progress.

Haaland wins the Golden Boy

After astonishingly scoring a hat-trick off the bench on his debut, Haaland finished his first campaign in a 'top five' European league with 16 strikes from 18 appearances and hasn't let up in 2020/21.

Eleven goals in as many games suggest Haaland isn't suffering from second-season-syndrome and chuck in six strikes from seven caps with Norway to get the full picture of his magnificence.

I think we can all agree, therefore, that Haaland was the worthy recipient of this year's prize, but the discussion and debate doesn't just revolve around who collected the gold medal.

Golden Boy top ten revealed

That's because the top ten has also been made public and according to Goal, Manchester United's Mason Greenwood was controversially left out despite an impressive 2019/20 campaign.

Instead, the highest-placed Premier League starlet was actually Manchester City's Phil Foden in seventh place, while Arsenal's Bukayo Saka similarly wiggled his way into the top ten in ninth.

Barcelona's Ansu Fati, Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies and Haaland's Dortmund teammate Sancho were also rightfully in contention, so check out the full top ten down below:

GIVEMESPORT's Kobe Tong says

I think if we're talking about talent and talent alone, then Saka and Foden ranking above Greenwood feels right to me.

That's not a slight on the United man, by the way, because all three players are fantastic and I do actually think Greenwood made the biggest impact for his respective team last season.

It's astonishing to think that the recent England debutant managed to notch 17 goals in all competitions in what was essentially his breakthrough season. 

Make no mistake, United would have been down some rather nasty creaks without a paddle if it wasn't for some of Greenwood's crucial strikes, particularly in league games at Old Trafford.

I personally would have swapped him in for Saka, which is no small statement coming from an Arsenal fan, but I don't think Greenwood will be losing too much sleep over a few places.

Besides, if we start to see the form that made him so deadly last season bleeding into the 2020/21 campaign, then he'll be doing United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer no end of favours.