Mbappe, Rashford, Dembele and Solanke all nominated for world's best U21 footballer prize

The 25 players in line to win this year’s Golden Boy award have been announced.

MANCHESTER UNITED FORWARD Marcus Rashford and Paris Saint-Germain teenager Kylian Mbappe are among the contenders for the Golden Boy award.

Italian newspaper Tuttosport have released a 25-man shortlist of candidates for the prestigious prize.

The best players on the planet under the age of 21 will battle it out to take the title, with the winner determined by a panel of 30 journalists.

Rashford finished as runner-up to Renato Sanches in 2016, with the now Swansea City loanee taking the prize on the back of his efforts in a successful European Championship campaign.

Lionel Messi, Rafael van der Vaart, Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero, Mario Gotze, Alexandre Pato, Anderson, Isco, Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling, Mario Balotelli and Anthony Martial are all previous winners.

United frontman Rashford is considered to be a serious challenger to the crown once again, but Mbappe is the strong favourite after bursting onto the scene at Monaco and earning a switch to PSG which will eventually cost them €180 million.

One man who has already completed a big-money switch is Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele, although the Frenchman has picked up an untimely knock after moving to Camp Nou for €105m.

Other notable contenders include Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus, who has impressed since arriving in English football in January.

Gianluigi Donnarumma remains a key figure at AC Milan despite being just 18 years of age, while Christian Pulisic, Kasper Dolberg and Borja Mayoral are catching the eye at the highest level with Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and Real Madrid respectively. Among the other

Premier League performers to see their talent recognised are Liverpool new boy Dominic Solanke, his England U19 team-mate Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton and Tottenham defender Kyle Walker-Peters.

Here’s the list in full: