Yesterday, Italian sources reportedly leaked the
final 50 shortlist or the Ballon D’Or, which
contained several Premier League stars.
But two days before, Tuttosport announced the
50 candidates for the Golden Boy award - their
respected equivalent to the former but for
young players in Europe.
Previously the award has been one by the likes
of Rafael van der Vaart, Wayne Rooney, Cesc
Fabregas, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and
Anderson, OK so they don’t always get it right.
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Last term the award was handed to Isco, who
then went on to sign for Real Madrid from
Malaga and is pushing for a place in the
Spanish World Cup squad for next summer - so
it is fair to say that these awards do usually
represent a vast amount of talent.
And four Premier League clubs are celebrating
the inclusion of their players on this year’s
shortlist.
Manchester United , Manchester City ,
Chelsea , Arsenal and Liverpool are the clubs
in mind - with Arsenal leading the way with
three nominations.
They have German sensation Serge Gnabry,
currently injured England international Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain and summer signing Yaya
Sanogo on the list.
Chelsea are next up with two nominations.
Nigerian international defender Kenneth
Omeruo and currently loaned out striker
Romelu Lukaku, who is considered one of the
favourites to win the award.
Then come Manchester United and Liverpool
with one apiece - Adnan Januzaj and Tiago Ilori
respectively.
Manchester City also have a name on the list,
with Matija Nastasic recognised.
The award will be handed out later in the year.
Here is the full shortlist…
Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
Jesé (Real Madrid)
Richmond Boakye (Elche)
Bruma (Galtasaray)
Emre Can (Bayer Leverkusen)
Sebastian Cristóforo (Sevilla)
Lucas Digne (PSG)
Julian Draxler (Schalke 04)
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco (Monaco)
Viktor Fischer (Ajax)
Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Serge Gnabry (Arsenal)
Mauro Icardi (Inter)
Juan Iturbe (Verona)
Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United)
Geoffrey Kondogbia (Monaco)
Mateo Kovacic (Inter)
Diego Laxalt (Bologna)
Nicolas López (Udinese)
Romelu Lukaku (Everton)
Adam Maher (PSV Eindhoven)
Lazar Markovic (Benfica)
Marquinhos (PSG)
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Anderlecht)
Matija Nastasic (Manchester City)
M’Baye Niang (Milán)
Kenneth Omeruo (Chelsea)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal)
Brayan Perea (Lazio)
Paul Pogba (Juventus)
Juan Quintero (Porto)
Josip Radosevic (Nápoli)
Rafinha (Celta)
Ante Rebic (Fiorentina)
Yaya Sanogo (Arsenal)
Florian Thauvin (Olympique de Marsella)
Tiago Ilori (Liverpool)
Óliver Torres (Atlético)
Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord)