Mbappe leads list of candidates for Golden Boy 2018

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Bengaluru, July 3: Golden Boy award founder, Italian media house Tuttosport have revealed the annual top 100 list of youngsters for this season and the list is topped with attackers from all the top sides of Europe. The prestigious prize which has earlier been won by the likes of Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba etc is given to the best young talent annually who are under 21.

Last year's winner, Kylian Mbappe who recently has been in the headlines for thrashing Argentina out of round 16 has been nominated again and as per expectations can win it again.

The PSG attacker has had a successful season at club football also where he netted 27 goals and assisted 16, winning three domestic titles.

Along with Mbappe, United States sensation Pulisic of Dortmund is also a strong contender for the post. The 20-year-old has had a successful season at Germany also where he played 32 matches, scoring four and assisting five.

Legendary Dutch footballer Patrick Kluivert's son, Justin Kluivert, who has only recently signed for Roma after a brilliant season with Ajax, is also on the list.

Apart from them, other notable names on the list include, AC Milan's young forward Patrick Cutrone, who scored 10 goals in 28 Serie A appearances last season and Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, who helped a budding Liverpool side to Champions League final and therefore earned a place in England's World Cup squad.

Other Premier league sides, Manchester United, Chelsea, City, Arsenal and Spurs etc also have players from their respective squads in the top 100 list.

United have trio Angel Gomes, Diogo Dalot and Timothy Fosu-Mensah in the list, while Manchester City are represented by emerging first-team regulars Phil Foden, Brahim Diaz, Manu Garcia and Lukas Nmecha.

Chelsea forward Callum Hudson-Odoi, Everton midfielder Tom Davies, Tottenham midfielder Marcus Edwards and Arsenal academy graduates Stephy Mavididi, Reiss Nelson and Jeff Reine-Adelaide all have made the cut into the table.

However, English Championship sensation, Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham who won PFA Young player of the year, could not make the cut as the list only include players from top division only.

Real Madrid and Barcelona also have representatives from their squad in the list. Zidane's son Luca Zidane and last season's debutant, right-back Achraf Hakimi have been mentioned in the list while Real Madrid youngster Martin Odegaard, who has recently finished an 18-month loan at Dutch side Heerenveen has also been added. Barcelona fans, on the other hand, will be looking to La Masia graduate Carles Alena who got his La Liga debut last season.

Surprisingly the list does not have any players from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich but the list is well covered from the other clubs from the Bundesliga as a whole.