The nominees for the Golden Boy 2018 has been announced on Tuesday with World Cup winning player Kylian Mbappe seems to be the top contender. However, the defending champion of this award faces competition from the likes of Timothy Weah, Christian Pulisic and Phil Foden.
Mbappe, Pulisic and Timothy Weah are top contenders for Golden Boy 2018.
The 19-year old youngster, who was part of the World Cup winning team won the year last year. And after winning the World Cup this year, he is a top contender this year too.
Mbappe played phenomenal throughout the tournament and lived up to the expectations. He was named man of the match in the round of 16 clash against Argentina. He scored a goal and proved a beautiful assist. The player also scored a goal in the final of the World Cup and made history. At the club level, he has also been among the goals in 2018-19 after returning to the domestic stage with PSG.
Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund star Christian Pulisic is another guy who is favourite to win the award. He has been at the very top of the game since the last two seasons. However, USA couldn’t make it to the World Cup this year and this may become the reason if Pulisic fails to win the award.
On the other hand, Manchester City midfielder Foden is proving to be a hot prospect. He has helped the England U-17 side to become the champions of the world this year. He has also got some minutes this year in City’s pre-season games. This young gun can also give a competition to France’s Mbappe.
2018 Golden Boy nominees in full:
| Player | Club |
|---|---|
| Carles Alena | Barcelona |
| Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool |
| Kelvin Adou Amian | Toulouse |
| Houssem Aouar | Lyon |
| Musa Barrow | Atalanta |
| Sander Gard Bolin Berge | Genk |
| Justin Bijlow | Feyenoord |
| Abdelkader Brahim Diaz | Manchester City |
| Josip Brekalo | Wolfsburg |
| Patrick Cutrone | AC Milan |
| Dani Olmo | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Tom Davies | Everton |
| Mattijs de Ligt | Ajax |
| Moussa Diaby | PSG |
| Diogo Dalot | Manchester United |
| Moussa Djenepo | Standard Liege |
| Ritsu Doan | Gronigen |
| Eder Militao | Porto |
| Odsonne Edouard | Celtic |
| Evander | Midtjylland |
| Phil Foden | Manchester City |
| Juan Foyth | Tottenham |
| Gedson Fernandes | Benfica |
| Nicolas Gonzalez | Stuttgart |
| Achraf | Borussia Dortmund |
| Amadou Haidara | Red Bull Salzburg |
| Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen |
| Jonathan Ikone | Lille |
| Joao Filipe | Benfica |
| Jovane Cabral | Sporting Lisbon |
| Dejan Joveljic | Red Star Belgrade |
| Boubacar Kamara | Marseille |
| Yann Karamoh | Bordeaux |
| Moise Kean | Juventus |
| Jules Keita | Dijon |
| Justin Kluivert | Roma |
| Teun Koopmeiners | AZ Alkmaar |
| Alban Lafont | Fiorentina |
| Leo Jaba | PAOK |
| Mikhail Lysov | Lokomotiv Moscow |
| Jean-Victor Makengo | Nice |
| Manu Garcia | Toulouse |
| Mauro Junior | PSV |
| Kylian Mbappe | PSG |
| Weston McKennie | Schalke |
| Evan N’Dicka | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| Pietro Pellegri | Monaco |
| Ronael Pierre-Gabriel | Monaco |
| Christian Pulisic | Borussia Dortmund |
| Ruben Vinagre | Wolves |
| Marcelo Saracchi | RB Leipzig |
| Ismaila Sarr | Rennes |
| Ryan Sessegnon | Fulham |
| Antonio Moya Vega | Atletico Madrid |
| Dayot Upamecano | RB Leipzig |
| Federico Valverde | Real Madrid |
| Vinicius Junior | Real Madrid |
| Moussa Wague | Barcelona |
| Timothy Weah | PSG |
| Luca Zidane | Real Madrid |