England youngsters Phil Foden, Mason Greenwood, Bukayo Saka, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Jadon Sancho have all been named on a 20-man shortlist for this year’s prestigious Golden Boy award.
The prize recognises the most talented player in Europe each calendar year aged 21 or under, and its glistening list of former winners includes the likes of Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Kylian Mbappe.
Englishmen make up a quarter of the list, looking to follow Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling in claiming the prize, while there is further Premier League interest in the shape of Fabio Silva and Ferran Torres, who joined Wolves and Manchester City, respectively, this summer.
City are one of four clubs to have multiple players nominated, with Erling Haaland joining Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, while Barcelona duo Sergino Dest and Ansu Fati and Real Madrid’s Brazilian pair of Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr. also make the cut.
Atletico Madrid and Portugal star Joao Felix was last year’s winner. Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies looks likely to be one of the leading names in contention after helping the German giants to Champions League glory, with Rennes Eduardo Camavinga the youngest man on the list at just 17.
The shortlist in full:
Mitchel Bakker, PSG
Eduardo Camavinga, Rennes
Jonathan David, Lille
Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich
Sergiño Dest, Barcelona
Fabio Silva, Wolves
Ansu Fati, Barcelona
Phil Foden, Manchester CityRyan Gravenberch, Ajax
Mason Greenwood, Manchester United
Erling Haaland, Borussia Dortmund
Callum Hudson-Odoi, Chelsea
Dejan Kulusevski, Juventus
Rodrygo, Real Madrid
Bukayo Saka, Arsenal
Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund
Dominik Szoboszlai, Red Bull Salzburg
Sandro Tonali, Brescia
Ferran Torres, Manchester City
Vinicius, Real Madrid
