Tuttosport have announced the 25-man shortlist for their prestigious Golden Boy award, including Atalanta defender Giorgio Scalvini, Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund.
The award has been handed out for two decades now and is voted for by a panel of experts around European football.
They whittled down the shortlist to 25 names of players under the age of 21 who play in the top tier of any European league.
The winner of the 2022 edition was Barcelona talent Gavi and the very first winner in 2003 was Rafael van der Vaart, then of Ajax.
Atalanta defender Scalvini is the only Italian player to have made the 2023 shortlist.
Bellingham is the favourite to win after an extraordinary start to his Real Madrid career, as the 20-year-old has scored 10 goals in 10 games and provided three assists.
Golden Boy 2023 candidates
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig)
Antonio Silva (Benfica)
Alejandro Balde (Barcelona)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig)
Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta)
Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United)
Levi Colwill (Chelsea)
Johan Bakayoko (PSV)
Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth)
Arthur Vermeeren (Antwerp)
Evan Ferguson (Brighton)
Lucas Gourna-Douath (RB Salzburg)
Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG)
Ousmane Diomande (Sporting CP)
Arnau Martinez (Girona)
Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich)
Andy Diouf (Lens)
Arda Guler (Real Madrid)
Bilal El Khannouss (Genk)
Martin Baturina (Dinamo Zagreb)
Joao Neves (Benfica)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)