Tuttosport whittled down the shortlist of candidates for 2019 European Golden Boy award to 40 and De Ligt, Vinicius, Felix, Sancho, Todibo & Mount all included, Hudson-Odoi & Sessegnon out.
40-man list
1-10
1. Benoit Badiashile (Monaco), class 2001, defender
2. Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal), class 1999, forward
3. Michael Cuisance (Bayern), class 1999, midfielder
4. Alphonso Davies (Bayern), class 2000, forward
5. Ayotomiwa Dele-Bashiru (Watford), class 1999, midfielder
6. Matthijs De Ligt (Juventus), class 1999, defender
7. Krepin Diatta (Club Brugge), class 1999, midfielder
8. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), class 1999, goalkeeper
9. Denis Dragus (Standard Liegi), class 1999, forward
10. Eljif Elmas (Napoli), class 2000, midfielder
11-20
11. Florentino Luis (Benfica), class 1999, midfielder
12. Phil Foden (Man City), class 2000, midfielder
13. Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal), class 1999, midfielder
14. Erling Haland (Salzburg Red Bull), class 2000, forward
15. Kai Havertz (Leverkusen), class 1999, midfielder
16. Alexander Isak (Real Sociedad), class 1999, forward
17. Joao Felix (Atletico), class 1999, forward
18. Dejan Joveljic (Frankfurt), class 1999, forward
19. Boubacar Kamara (Marseille), class 1999, defender
20. Moise Kean (Everton), class 2000, forward
21-30
21. Justin Kluivert, (Roma), class 1999, attacker
22. Ibrahima Konate, (RB Leipzig), class 1999, defender
23. Alban Lafont, (Nantes), class 1999, goalkeeper
24. Diego Lainez, (Betis), class 1999, attacker
25. Kang-In Lee, (Valencia), class 2001, attacker
26. Andrij Lunin, (Valladolid), class 1999, goalkeeper
27. Donyell Malen, (PSV), class 1999, attacker
28. Mason Mount, (Chelsea), class 1999, midfielder
29. Patricio Perez, (Famalicao), class 2000, defender
30. Reiss Nelson, (Arsenal), class 1999, attacker
31-40
31. Abdulkadir Onur, (Trabzonspor), class 1999, midfielder
32. Strahinja Pavlovic, (Partizan), class 2001, defender
33. Rafael Leao, (Milan), class 1999, attacker
34. Rodrygo Goes, (Real Madrid), class 2001, attacker
35. Jaydon Sancho, (Dortmund), class 2000, attacker
36. Luis Sinisterra, (Feyernoord), class 1999, attacker
37. Jean-Claire Todibo, (Barcelona), class 1999, defender
38. Ferran Torres, (Valencia), class 2000, attacker
39. Vinicius Junior, (Real madrid), class 2000, attacker
40. Nicolo Zaniolo, (Roma), class 1999, midfielder
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?