Mbappe omitted from Golden boy shortlist

Established by 'Tuttosport' , an Italian publication, the award is handed to the best player under the age of 21 in Europe. 

Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold was on the shortlist, after helping his club reach the Champions League final last season, as well as breaking into Gareth Southgate's England squad. 

The four other candidates for the award are; Patrick Cutrone (AC Milan), Justin Kluivert (AS Roma), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax), and Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid). 

After winning the award last year, Mbappé is a glaring omission from the final shortlist for the 2018 edition, after winning the World Cup with France, and the young player of the tournament award in Russia during the summer. 

Further disappointed omissions are Manchester City wonderkid Phil Foden, Celtic's Odsonne Eduoard and Everton's Tom Davies. 

The list of previous winners of the award is a rather impressive read; the likes of Wayne Rooney (2004), Sergio Aguero (2007), Paul Pogba (2013) and Raheem Sterling (2014) all won the award at the beginning of their careers, and all of them have gone on to flourish in the Premier League and elsewhere.

2018's winner will be announced on December 18, after being decided by a 30 strong group of journalists from media outlets across the continent.