Barcelona walked away with both of Monday’s marquee Golden Boy honours. Hours after 19-year-old centre-back Pau Cubarsí was unveiled as the 2026 Golden Boy at the Mapei Football Center in Sassuolo, Italian newspaper Tuttosport confirmed that club president Joan Laporta had been voted Best President of the Year.

The jury assembled by Tuttosport, a panel of former players that includes Cesc Fàbregas, Manuel Rui Costa, Andriy Shevchenko, Hristo Stoichkov and Pavel Nedved, singled out Laporta’s commitment to Barcelona’s La Masia academy.

The organisers said, according to Infobae, that his approach should serve as a template for the rest of European football.

“His example should serve as enormous learning for all of us and all clubs, because following his model, which is a winning model, you can obtain both sports and economic benefits.”

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From financial crisis to trophy run

Laporta, 64, is in his second stint as Barcelona president after returning to the role in 2021 and winning re-election earlier this year. He inherited a club deep in financial trouble and spent his first years in charge fighting to bring Barcelona back inside La Liga’s spending framework.

The sporting dividend has arrived in the past two seasons. Under his presidency Barcelona have lifted the La Liga title and the Spanish Super Cup, while the women’s team completed a historic quadruple of Liga F, the Copa de la Reina, the Spanish Super Cup and the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

La Masia pipeline tips the vote

Multiple Barcelona graduates impressed at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a factor the jury weighed in deciding the presidential award. Cubarsí is now the fifth Barcelona player to take the Golden Boy itself, following Lionel Messi (2005), Pedri (2021), Gavi (2022) and Lamine Yamal (2024).

The run of La Masia winners has become the clearest exhibit for the youth-first identity Laporta has pushed since his comeback, and it was that pipeline, rather than any single trophy, that the jury of former players appears to have rewarded.

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Both Laporta and Cubarsí are scheduled to collect their trophies at the official Golden Boy gala in Turin on 14 December 2026.

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