The search for the best young talent currently playing in Europe has continued with the list of nominations for the 2021 Golden Boy award cut from 80 to 60.

Borussia Dortmund’s prolific goal scorer Erling Haaland is the current holder of the prestigious award that has also previously been won by the likes of Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling and Kylian Mbappe.

The process which is overseen by an Italian newspaper Tuttosport started by naming 100 top talents in Juneb this year, which was cut to 80 last month and now stands at 60. It will be further cut to 40 in September, before the final 20 is revealed later on in October.

The public online vote is responsible for whittling down the shortlist, but an expert panel from Italy’s premier sports newspapers and television channels will choose the winner in November, while the awards ceremony will take place in mid-December.

The list contains some players who stood out last season and are favourites for the award. Barcelona’s midfield maestro Pedri is definitely one of the favourites after the season he had in 2020/2021 with Barcelona and the Spain national team in EURO 2020 not forgetting he also represented the Spain Under-23 in Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood.
PHOTO: Courtesy

Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood and Barcelona’s, former Manchester City defender Eric Garcia also feature in the list. English international Jude Bellingham who plays for Borussia Dortmund has also been shortlisted and is expected to make an appearance in the final 20.

Other big names to feature on the list include Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Giovanni Reyna, Manchester United winger Amad Diallo, Rennes’ Edouardo Camavinga and Liverpool’s Curtis Jones.

Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka.
PHOTO: Courtesy

Here are the final 60 to be shortlisted for the prestigious award ahead of October;

Karim Adeyemi (Red Bull Salzburg)
Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves)
Ander Barrenetxea (Real Sociedad)
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Stipe Biuk (Hajduk Split)
Myron Boadu (Monaco)
Jayden Braaf (Manchester City)
Brian Brobbey (RB Leipzig)
Armando Broja (Chelsea)
Riccardo Calafiori (Roma)
Eduardo Camavinga (Rennes)
Rayan Cherki (Lyon)
Francisco Conceicao (Porto)
Yusuf Demir (Barcelona)
Ersin Destanoglu (Besiktas)
Amad Diallo (Manchester United)
Jeremy Doku (Rennes)
Sebastiano Esposito (Basel)
Fabio Silva (Wolves)
Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus)
Eric Garcia (Barcelona)
Bryan Gil (Tottenham)
Goncalo Ramos (Benfica)
Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax)
Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig)
Mohamed Ihatteren (PSV Eindhoven)
Ilaix Moriba (Barcelona)
Curtis Jones (Liverpool)
Kaio Jorge (Juventus)
Arnaud Kalimuendo (Paris Saint-Germain)
Odilon Kossounou (Bayer Leverkusen)
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Rubin Kazan)
Lee Kang-in (Valencia)
Luis Henrique (Marseille)
Noni Madueke (PSV Eindhoven)
Marcos Paulo (Atletico Madrid)
Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal)
Yunus Musah (Valencia)
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
Nuno Mendes (Sporting CP)
Pedri (Barcelona)
Roberto Piccoli (Atalanta)
Yeremi Pino (Villarreal)
Filippo Ranocchia (Juventus)
Reinier (Borussia Dortmund)
Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund)
Nicolo Rovella (Genoa)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
William Saliba (Marseille)
Martin Satriano (Inter)
Luke Thomas (Leicester)
Tiago Tomas (Sporting CP)
Jurrien Timber (Ajax)
Konstantinos Tzolakis (Olympiacos)
German Valera (Atletico Madrid)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Nicola Zalewski (Roma)
Joshua Zirkzee (Anderlecht)

The search for the best young talent in 2021 continues as the 2021 Golden boy list is shortened to 60 players