Who is Michelle Agyemang? England's Lioness star named 2025 European Golden Girl

The 19-year old striker made a name for herself this summer as a crucial member of the winning Lioness’ squad – now Michelle Agyemang has been awarded a prestigious award

She’s only 19, but she’s already made a huge name for herself – as superstar Michelle Agyemang is awarded European Golden Girl 2025.

The England forward made a historic debut in the summer for the Women’s European Championships, as she scored within just 41 seconds of being on the pitch – cementing herself as a key player in the women’s senior team.

Agyemang, who is on loan from Arsenal, scored two crucial goals as the Lionesses won the 2025 European Championship and was named young player of the tournament – shining on the centre stage, which has now won her the prestigious award recently.

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The awards, created by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, are decided by a poll of 50 selected sports journalists from across Europe and are given to the best under-21 footballers each year, with Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal becoming last year’s Golden Boy winner and Vicky Lopez, also of Barcelona, was the Golden Girl winner.

This year Michelle Agyemang and France forward Desire Doue have won the 2025 awards. For a player to be considered in 2025, they must have been born on or after 1 January, 2005 and belong to a squad in one of UEFA’s top 25 leagues.

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This season, Agyemang has started in five of Brighton’s six WSL games this season but is set to miss the rest of the campaign after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament.

Agyemang has been a fixture of almost every age group in the Lionesses youth setup and her senior tournament debut has been a long time coming.

Like many players, the striker is accustomed to moving teams but has managed to make her mark wherever she’s playing. The England-born player has been on loan at Watford and most recently Brighton, scoring multiple Women’s Super League goals.

Speaking about her transition between the Under-19s and the seniors, Agyemang told The Guardian: “It’s been interesting going through the different age groups, meeting different players and coaches. But I think the England pathway is so similar across the board, so it’s really easy to settle in no matter where I am.”

Agyemang is a long time “Gooner” – making her Arsenal debut in November 2022 at the age of 16. The academy graduate went on to sign her first professional deal in May 2024.

While this summer was her first senior Euros, she starred for England at the 2022 Women’s Under-17 Euros and again in the summer of 2024 at the Under-19 Euros.

Ahead of the Euro’s earlier this year, Sarina Wiegman said she has a “well-balanced” squad – despite a number of high-profile withdrawals. Arsenal’s Leah Williamson, fresh from winning the Champions League, will captain a squad that includes 13 players who were part of the triumphant 2022 squad.

Seven players– Michelle Agyemang, Aggie Beever-Jones, Grace Clinton, Khiara Keating, Maya Le Tissier, Anna Moorhouse and Jess Park – appeared at their first major tournament while veteran Lucy Bronze appeared at a seventh major tournament.

An earlier version of this story was published on June 26.

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