Vinicius Junior has been included on the 40-man shortlist for the 2018 Golden Boy award. There have been 15 previous winners, going from Rafael van der Vaart in 2003 through to 2017 winner Kylian Mbappe- who is being heavily backed to defend the award. The 19-year-old is heavy favourites to take the prize, after scoring 21 goals for PSG last season and a starring role for France at the World Cup and named FIFA’s Best Young Player.
List of final Golden Boy 2018 candidates:
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kelvin Adou (Toulouse), Houssem Aouar (Olympique Lyonnais), Musa Barrow (Atalanta), Justin Bulow (Feyenoord), Josip Breaklo (Wolfsburg), Patrick Cutrone (Milan), Dani Olmo (Dinamo Zagreb), Tom Davies (Everton), Matthijs de Ligt (Alaves), Moussa Diaby (Paris Saint-Germain), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Moussa Djenepo (Standard Liege), Ritsu Doan (Groningen), Eder Militao (Porto), Edouard (Celtic), Evander (Midtjylland), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Achraf Hakimi (Borussia Dortmund), Amadou Haidara (Red Bull Salzburg), Joao Felix (Benfica), Jota (Benfica), Jovane Cabral (Sporting CP), Dejan Joveljic (Red Star Belgrade), Boubacar Kamara (Olympique Marseille), Moise Kean (Juventus), Abdoulaye Keita (Dijon), Justin Kluivert (Roma), Manu Garcia (Real Oviedo), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Pietro Pellegri (Monaco), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Marcelo Saracchi (RB Leipzig), Ismaila Sarr (Stade Rennais), Dayot Upamecano (RB Leipzig), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid), Moussa Wague (Barcelona), Timothy Weah (Paris Saint-Germain),Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma)
