Trent Alexander-Arnold, Justin Kluivert, Matthijs de Ligt, Patrick Cutrone and Vinicius Junior are the names in contention for the 2018 Golden Boy award, with holder Kylian Mbappe out of the running.
Roma’s Kluivert, Ajax’s De Ligt, Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold, AC Milan’s Cutrone and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior will find out who wins on Dec. 17.
The award, first won by Rafael van der Vaart in 2003, followed by Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi, is organised by Italian newspaper Tuttosport and presented to the outstanding youngster over the course of the year.
A different player has picked up the prize every time and, while there was no rule preventing Mbappe from winning it again, he is expected to be a top three candidate for the Ballon d’Or and will not be considered by the Golden Boy jury of journalists.
“The philosophy is to launch one new face each year,” Massimo Franchi, who oversees the award, told ESPN FC.
“This started with Messi in 2005 — we couldn’t just vote Messi each year, even if he was still young enough for the Golden Boy.
“It is always an important prize, but he [Mbappe] is out of the running to win this. One month after he won the Golden Boy last year, he came seventh for the Ballon d’Or and he’d only won a Ligue 1 with Monaco.
“Now he’s won the World Cup, starred for Paris Saint-Germain and is worthy of winning the Ballon d’Or, so there is no need for him to go back and win the Golden Boy again. That’s why Messi and Rooney didn’t get it a second time either.
“We inserted him in the [initial list of] candidates because he is still in the right age group, and also because we have an online vote.
“It’s then up to the jury and there is no rule which says he can’t [win again], but it’s like a university graduate who is then asked to go back to college for another exam. He’s moved to the next level.”
Bayern Munich’s Renato Sanches took the prize in 2016, while Anthony Martial was the 2015 winner. Raheem Sterling, Paul Pogba, Isco, Mario Gotze and Mario Balotelli are other previous winners.
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