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2008 Golden Boy winner is now completely unrecognisable 15 years after his victory

Home> Football> Football News

Published 11:51 4 Dec 2023 GMT

2008 Golden Boy winner is now completely unrecognisable 15 years after his victory

He looks very different.

Chris Byfield

Chris Byfield

The 2008 Golden Ball winner looks completely different 15 years since his victory.

This evening England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham will be presented with the 2023 Golden Boy award - given to the best under-21 player in Europe's top flights.

Bellingham, who in October was also recognised as the best under-21 player in the world at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, has scored 15 goals in 17 appearances since moving to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund this summer.

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"I'd like to thank everyone who has been part of my journey so far at Birmingham, Dortmund and now Madrid. It wouldn't be possible without them," he said, upon being announced as the Golden Boy winner two weeks ago.

"Lastly and most importantly my family who give me the support and motivation and love every day to keep striving.

"Now I have this prestigious award I want to keep going. I want to keep pushing the limits of my potential and hopefully many more trophies to come."

Bellingham is the first English player to win the award since Raheem Sterling in 2014, while Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland have also claimed the prize during their careers.

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And Bellingham’s victory got SPORTbible thinking about other recipients of the Golden Boy awards, and where they may have ended up.

Anderson, the former Manchester United midfielder who received the Golden Boy award in 2008, looks particularly different judging by his social media.

Gone are the player's famous dreadlocks, with the Brazilian now sporting a clean-shaven haircut.

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Since leaving United back in 2015, Anderson spent the latter stages of his career in Brazil, playing for Internacional and Coritiba before ultimately heading to Turkey for the final two seasons of his career at Adana Demirspor.

However, Anderson’s time was plagued by injuries, which led to the Brazilian’s decision to retire at the age of 32 in 2020.

Featured Image Credit: De Boa Bet & Getty

Topics: Football, Manchester United, Jude Bellingham, Premier League

Chris Byfield
Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.

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