Barcelona's Pedri wins Golden Boy award

Barcelona's Pedri capped off an incredible year for club and country by winning the 2021 Golden Boy award.

The 18-year-old Spanish international is the first Barcelona player to win the honor since Lionel Messi in 2005.

The annual honor, which is given out by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, is awarded to the best young player in Europe.

Pedri won the trophy by the largest margin since the Golden Boy award was first handed out in 2003. The 318 points he received from voting journalists were 199 more than second-place Jude Bellingham's of Borussia Dortmund.

"I want to thank Tuttosport for this trophy which makes me so proud," he told the newspaper, as translated by ESPN's Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens. "Thanks also to the members of my team and the fans who have always supported me throughout a 2021 which for me has been simply incredible.

"Of course, I want to thank Barcelona, the national side, my family, my friends, and everyone who has been with me day-in-day-out without whose help I would not have been able to win the Golden Boy award."

After making 52 appearances in his first full season at Barcelona, Pedri went on to play an important role for Spain at Euro 2020 last summer. He was named Young Player of the Tournament after making six appearances for Luis Enrique's side.

Last year's winner Erling Haaland was preceded by Joao Felix, Matthijs de Ligt, and Kylian Mbappe.