Barcelona, Man United, and Liverpool Stars Make Golden Boy Shortlist

• The Golden Boy Award is presented to players under the age of 21
• Barcelona have produced the previous two winners of the award
• Jamal Musiala is tipped to clinch the award

Barcelona midfielder Pablo Gavi and breakout left-back Alejandro Balde join Liverpool ace Harvey Elliott and Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho on the 2023 Golden Boy award shortlist.

Jude Bellingham, Jamal Musiala, and Xavi Simons are among the candidates to have been named on the Golden Boy 2023 long list.

The prestigious award was launched in 2003 by Tuttosport and includes Kylian Mbappe, Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi among its former winners.

Tuttosport now collaborates with The Times and L'Equipe to find Europe's best player under the age of 21.

There will be an awards ceremony in November where the winner is given the prize, with Tuesday's list comprising the candidates who will be considered. This list will be whittled down over the course of several months.

Maradona to Mertens: List of top 10 Napoli legends of all time ranked

Football

As posited by Tuttosport, only eligible journalists vote, with each giving 10 points to the player they think should win, seven points for second, five points for third, three points for fourth and one point for fifth.

Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala is currently top of the shortlist, with England international Jude Bellingham second following his move to Real Madrid. Elliott is the first Premier League entrant in 14th place.

Barcelona produced last two winners

Barcelona players have taken the top spot in the last two editions, with Pedri winning in 2021, before Gavi in 2022. Now the midfielder has a chance to win this individual award again after a season where he played a key role in the spine of Xavi's side.

Brimming with energy and hard work, the La Masia graduate played 49 games, scoring three goals and his Golden Boy Rating is 93.

Left-back and fellow La Masia graduate Balde is in fifth place with a Golden Boy Rating of 87.8. During a breakout season in which he forced his way into Xavi's first team, Balde has provided quality, strength, physicality and speed in the 44 times he played for Barcelona, including scoring one goal.

Revealed! 15 times Kylian Mbappé shocked the football world

Football

Both Gavi and Balde will face fierce competition for the top spot on a star-studded chart which includes England ace Bellingham, who has just joined Real Madrid for €103 million as reported by Skysports and the current favourite to walk away with the famous trophy, Bayern Munich playmaker Musiala.

Manchester United winger Garnacho is also in contention, as well as Red Devils target Rasmus Hojlund, while Dutch sensation Xavi Simons features once again, Salzburg’s Benjamin Sesko, Florian Wirtz and Man City’s Rico Lewis will all be eyeing the prize.

Golden Boy award previous winners

Earlier Sports Brief made a list of the previous winners of the prestigious Golden Boy Award.

The list featured players who would eventually take the football world by surprise including the likes of Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli, Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.