Rashford beaten to Golden Boy award

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford has been beaten to the European Golden Boy award by Bayern Munich’s Renato Sanches.

The 19-year-old joins the likes of United captain Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero in winning the prestigious award, given to the best player in Europe aged under 21.

Rashford finished second in the voting, with Sanches’ Bayern teammate Kingsley Coman coming third. The Portuguese international has had a fine year, breaking through into the first-team at Benfica at the start of last season before playing a pivotal part in Portugal’s success at Euro 2016.

He became the youngest player to feature in a European Championship-winning side and his performances in France, which won him the Young Player of the Tournament, earned him a move to the Bundesliga champions, who ironically beat out competition from United to secure the services of Sanches in a £27.5 million deal.

Rashford’s achievements should not be overlooked either. Having made his senior debut in February for United, he went on to score eight goals in 18 appearances – including goals on his European and Premier League debuts as well as in his first Manchester derby – which saw him take his place in England’s squad for Euro 2016.

He also scored on his England debut against Australia in May, becoming the youngest Englishman to score on his international bow. However, that was not enough for Rashford to emulate Anthony Martial, who won the Golden Boy award last year.

The Golden Boy award was voted on by football journalists across Europe and here’s how the voting panned out: