Barça take big honours at Golden Boy Gala

The Golden Boy Gala 2024 was very much a blaugrana affair. The winners were already announced on November 27, but this Monday was the date for the official presentation ceremony in Turin. Although neither could be there in person, the Golden Boys and Girls, both from FC Barcelona, Lamine Yamal and Vicky López spoke live from the Ciutat Esportiva pressroom to express their gratitude of Italian sports paper Tuttosport.

López, who is fully focused on a big UWCL game against Manchester City at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, said "I am very happy to win this award, and I hope to continue enjoying my football ... I have loved this sport for as long as I remember."

Yamal, who it has just been revealed will be out for a few weeks with an ankle injury, said "I can sense the love that the fans have for me and winning awards like this makes me very happy ... I don't really think about how young I am. I just want to play ... I just imagine myself winning things at Barça, and hopefully this year we can win the Champions League."

In the build-up to the game with Leganés on Sunday, Federico Vincenzoni, Chief Executive Officer of ‘Tuttosport’, presented the Golden Boy trophy to the youngster amid a massive ovation. 

There was another award for Barça, this time for Aitana Bonmatí, who was again named the Golden Player Woman, as she did last year. She too had a message for the occasion: "I'm very happy to win this prize and I'm sorry I can't be there but we have a very important Champions League game. As I always say, this individual award is really for the whole team because without my team-mates I wouldn't have achieved anything of what I've done."

Joan Laporta also sends video

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta also wanted to be part of the gala in video format, especially considering all this is happening in the 125th anniversary year, a point he made clear, while excusing himself for being there in person. Sporting and institutional duties got in the way, but he is obviously delighted to see each of Lamine Yamal, Vicky López and Aitana get honoured.