Gabriel Barbosa, Alex Iwobi, Marcus Rashford
and Renato Sanches are among the nominees to
win the 2016 Golden Boy award.
The annual prize – established by Italian newspaper
Tuttosport in 2003 and voted for by a panel of journalists
from around the continent – is given to the player under
the age of 21 who has impressed the most over the
calendar year Europe.
Brazil forward Gabriel Barbosa, better known as Gabigol,
recently joined Inter and is named on the 40-man shortlist
for the award – which a player can only win once – along
with Bayern Munich and Portugal midfielder Renato
Sanches.
Manchester United and England striker Rashford is
another candidate, along with Sanches’ Bayern team-mate
Kingsley Coman – who starred for France at Euro 2016 –
and Real Madrid rising star Marco Asensio.
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli, AC Milan goalkeeper
Gianluigi Donnarumma and Borussia Dortmund forward
Ousmane Dembele are also in the running, as are
Manchester City duo Kelechi Iheanacho and Leroy Sane
and Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi.
United forward Anthony Martial won last year’s award,
following up successes by Paul Pogba and Raheem Sterling
in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi was the winner back in 2005,
one year after Wayne Rooney took the honour. Madrid’s
Cristiano Ronaldo, though, never claimed the prize.
GOLDEN BOY 2016 SHORTLIST
Dele Alli (Tottenham), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Leon
Bailey (Genk), Riechedly Bazoer (Ajax), Gabriel Boschilia
(Monaco), Julian Brandt (Leverkusen), Carlos Fernandez
(Sevilla), Andreas Christensen (Borussia
Monchengladbach), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Ante
Coric (Dinamo Zagreb), Amadou Diawara (Napoli),
Mahmoud Dahoud (Borussia Monchengladbach), Danilo
Barbosa (Benfica), Moussa Dembele (Celtic), Ousmane
Dembele (Dortmund), Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan),
Breel Embolo (Schalke), Gabriel Barbosa (Inter), Aleksandr
Golovin (CSKA Moscow), Goncalo Guedes (Benfica),
Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Marko Grujic (Liverpool),
Alen Halilovic (Hamburg), Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester
City), Alex Iwobi (Arsenal), Viktor Kovalenko (Shakhtar
Donetsk), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Lucas Hernandez
(Atletico Madrid), Emanuel Mammana (Lyon), Nathan
(Vitesse), Olivier Ntcham (Genoa), Marcus Rashford
(Manchester United), Renato Sanches (Bayern Munich),
Jairo Riedewald (Ajax), Ruben Neves (Porto), Tonny
Sanabria (Betis), Leroy Sane (Manchester City), Jonathan
Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht),
Almamy Toure (AS Monaco).
Who should win the award?
