The 20-man shortlist for the Golden Boy 2019 Award has been announced, including Joao Felix, Matthijs de Ligt, Ansu Fati and Vinicius.
A large international panel votes for the player aged under 21 who is most likely to make his mark in the coming campaign.
It was won by Ajax defender De Ligt last year, before he reached the Champions League semi-final and then completed a transfer to Juventus.
The big favourite this time is Atletico Madrid and Portugal forward Joao Felix and the winner will be announced in Turin on December 16.
Golden Boy 2019 20-man list
Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus, Netherlands)
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich, Canada)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan, Italy)
Ansu Fati (Barcelona, Spain)
Philip Foden (Manchester City, England)
Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal, France)
Erling Haland (RB Salzburg, Norway)
Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany)
Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid, Portugal)
Dejan Joveljic (Eintracht Frankfurt, Serbia)
Moise Kean (Everton, Italy)
Kang-in Lee (Valencia, South Korea)
Andrij Oleksijovyc (Valladolid, Ukraine)
Danyell Malen (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Mason Mount (Chelsea, England)
Rodrygo (Real Madrid, Brazil)
Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid, Brazil)
Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund, England)
Ferran Torres (Valencia, Spain)
Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma, Italy)
About Golden Boy award
The Golden Boy is an award that is given by sports journalists to a young footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year (two halves to two separate seasons). All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European nation's top tier.
The prize was established by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport in 2003. Newspapers that now participate in voting include Bild (Germany), Blick (Switzerland), A Bola (Portugal), l'Équipe (France), France Football (France), Marca (Spain), Mundo Deportivo (Spain), Ta Nea (Greece), Sport Express (Russia), De Telegraaf (Netherlands), and The Times (United Kingdom). Each juror is allowed to nominate five players, the juror will allocate 10 points to the player that they perceive as the most impressive, 7 for the second, 5 third, 3 fourth, and 1 point for fifth most impressive.
Golden Boy award Winners
2003. Van der Vaart
2004. Wayne Rooney
2005. Lionel Messi
2006. Cesc Fabregas
2007. Sergio Aguero
2008. Anderson
2009. Alexandre Pato
2010. Mario Balotelli
2011. Mario Gotze
2012. Isco
2013. Paul Pogba
2014. Raheem Sterling
2015. Anthony Martial
2016. Renato Sanches
2017. Kylian Mbappe
2018. Mattijas De Ligt
There has been NO one who wins the European Golden Boy award in consecutive years.
Who will be the next winner in 2019?