OFFICIAL: Warren Zaire-Emery Nominated for Golden Boy Award

 There is a lot of anticipation for the Ballon d'Or award set to be handed out in London at the end of the month, with there being a hope that PSG forward Ousmane Dembele may retain the award, or perhaps even a new winner from within the team, such as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. 

Meanwhile, Fabian Ruiz has made his case to win the award, saying that nobody won as much as him last season, and as the only player to win the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA World Cup, he has a point. Still, individually it does not feel like he was quite good enough, even though he is a fantastic player. 

Well, the Ballon d'Or is not the only award that will be given later on this month, with the Golden Boy - given to the best young player in the world - also set to be handed out. 

You never know, that could also come to Paris too. Indeed so, as PSG youngster Warren Zaire-Emery has been named on the official list of nominees confirmed earlier on today (Monday, the 5th of October), joining a list full of incredibly talented players across the continent. 

It may have gone under the radar outside of PSG and French football circles, but Zaire-Emery had an outstanding 25/26 season. With several players missing a number of domestic games, he was the one always there to fill in and take one for the team. 

With 32 appearances and 27 starts, the 20-year old featured in Ligue 1 more than any other player from Luis Enrique's side last season, playing a huge part in the hard fought title win over RC Lens. 

Furthermore, after Achraf Hakimi picked up an injury late on in the UEFA Champions League semi final first leg against Bayern Munich, Zaire-Emery filled in at right-back for the second leg, and did a superb job on keeping Luis Diaz quiet throughout the night. Truth be told, he dealt with Diaz a lot better than his Moroccan counterpart had in the first leg. 

So, all in all, a very deserved nomination for a fine young player. Given the level of some of the nominees, it will be very hard for the PSG man to win the award, but even being nominated is great recognition in and of itself. No doubt all fans of the club wish him very well in his quest to win the award.