The 100-man shortlist for the 2022 Golden Boy award has now been revealed, with Liverpool and Manchester United players among the nominees.
The award recognises the best under-21 players in the world, with the shortlist set to be cut down over the next few months before the winner is revealed at the end of the year.
In all, 10 Premier League stars have been nominated, which include United forwards Amad Diallo and Anthony Elanga, as well as Liverpool duo Harvey Elliot and Fabio Carvalho, the latter having recently signed for the Reds from Fulham.
The other names from the Premier League are Wolves duo Fabio Silva and Ki-Jana Hoever, Leeds’ Joe Gelhardt, Man City’s Yan Couto, Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr and Brighton’s Kacper Kozlowski, although the latter three are yet to make a senior appearance for their respective teams.
Dortmund and England midfielder Jude Bellingham is one of the favourites for the award, with Elliott, Gelhardt and PSV’s Noni Madueke the only other English nominees, while Bologna player Aaron Hickey, is the sole nominee for Scotland.
Bellingham will face huge competition for the trophy from the likes of Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga, Barcelona’s Gavi and Bayern’s Jamal Musiala.
They’ll be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Barcelona midfielder Pedri who won it last year, with past winners also including Lionel Messi, Fabregas, Sergio Aguero, Kylian Mbappe and Haaland.
The Red devils have produced the most winners of the award since its inception in 2003, courtesy of Wayne Rooney, Antony Martial and midfielder Anderson, while Raheem Sterling is Liverpool’s only recipient of the Golden Boy.
The winner is chosen by a mix of votes on the website of organisers Tuttosport and a number of European journalists, and should be eventually announced in November.
