Eight Premier League Stars Named On European Golden Boy Shortlist

There are eight representatives from the Premier League on this year's UEFA Golden Boy shortlist - the award given to the best Under-21 player in European football. Italian newspaper Tuttsport have put together the 40-man shortlist.

Manchester United have two past Golden Boy winners in their squad in Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba and could potentially have a third this year; hot-shot Marcus Rashford deservedly makes the shortlist after exploding onto the scene in 2016 - scoring on his Manchester United and England debut.

Marcus Rashford

Across town there is another teenage sensation in the form of Manchester City's Nigerian wonderkid Kelechi Iheanacho, who is also on the list. Despite being behind Sergio Aguero in the striker department at City, Iheanacho bagged an excellent return of 14 goals last season and has scored a further three for Pep Guardiola's side this term.

Iheanacho's compatriot Alex Iwobi makes the cut following a series of strong displays, while Dele Alli, Demerai Gray and Ruben Loftus-Cheek join their fellow English talent Marcus Rashford on the shortlist. Leroy Sane, a summer signing from Schalke has also been nominated.

The final man to make it from the Premier League is Liverpool new boy Marko Grujic.

Here is the list in full:

Leon Bailey (Ghent)

Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht)

Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen)

Andreas Christensen (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Mahmoud Dahoud (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Kingsley Coman (Bayern)

Ousmane Dembélé (Dortmund)

Breel Embolo (Schalke)

Alen Halilovic (Hamburg)

Renato Sanches (Bayern)

Jonathan Tah (Leverkusen)

Ante Coric (Dinamo Zagreb)

Riechedley Bazoer (Ajax)

Nathan (Vitesse)

Jairo Riedewald (Ajax)

Marco Asensio (Real Madrid)

Carlos Fernández (Sevilla)

Lucas Hernández (Atlético)

Tony Sanabria (Betis)

Gabriel Boschilia (Monaco)

Emmanuel Mammana (Lyon)

Almamy Touré (Monaco)

Gonçalo Guedes (Benfica)

Ruben Neves (Porto)

Delle Alli (Tottenham)

Demarai Gray (Leicester)

Marko Grujic (Liverpool)

Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City)

Leroy Sane (Manchester City)

Alex Iwobi (Arsenal)

Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea)

Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

Aleksandr Golovin (CSKA Mosco)

Moussa Dembélé (Celtic)

Amadou Diawara (Napoli)

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan)

Gabriel Barbosa (Inter)

Olivier Ntcham (Genoa)

Viktor Kovalenko (Shakhtar)

Topics: UEFA, Premier League

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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