BY JUDITH NWABIA

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Head coach of Nigeria U-17 team Manu Garba has found fault with the choice of Bayern Munich star, Renato Sanches as winner of the Golden Boy Award ahead of Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho.
Manu criticised the organisers of the award for infusing politics into the selection process, adding that Iheanacho should have won the award and not Sanches.
The annual award for Europe’s most impressive footballer under the age of 21 is run by the Italian newspaper Tuttosport, who will present the trophy to Sanches at a ceremony in Monte Carlo on Monday night. The 19-year-old, who joined Bayern in the summer from Benfica for an initial €30m, helped Portugal win Euro 2016.
However, Manu is of the opinion that since the award is a personal award, it should be based on individual accolade and not team award, hence he feels his former U-17 protégée Iheanacho should have won it.
“It’s all political, considering what Iheanacho did last season, he should have won the award. It’s like it’s now reserved for players with big price tag. Iheanacho deserves it,” he told Owngoalnigeria.com.
” As a matter of fact, the world know his quality so, it’s not an issue that should bother him. He will win many awards solely on merit. He is still very young.”