Sanches pips Rashford (and others) to Golden Boy gong

Matt Stead

Renato Sanches has been crowned European Golden Boy, beating Marcus Rashford, Dele Alli and Kingsley Coman to the award.

Sanches, who won Euro 2016 with Portugal in the summer, as well as joining Bayern Munich, was chosen after a vote by a number of journalists from 30 newspapers across Europe.

The award, which began in 2003, seeks to name the best player on the continent under the age of 21.

Central midfielder Sanches played a key part in Portugal’s historic win at Euro 2016, and has featured in eight games so far under Carlo Ancelotti at Bundesliga leaders Bayern.

Manchester United forward Rashford was also nominated for the award, as well as Tottenham’s Alli, Marko Grujic of Liverpool, and Alex Iwobi of Arsenal, among others.

Anthony Martial of United won the award in 2015, while other previous winners include Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and Paul Pogba.

Sanches, who only turned 19 in August, was courted by United in the summer, but he has since explained why he turned down the Premier League side.

He will be handed a trophy at a Monte Carlo ceremony in the coming weeks.