Golden Boy 2018: Kylian Mbappe joined by Manchester United & Liverpool wonderkids but there’s one glaring omission

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The Golden Boy 2018 nominees are in and it’s little surprise to see big names like Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe and Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold up there.

Bizarrely, however, there is somehow no room for Fulham wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon after his stunning season in the Championship helped the club win promotion to the Premier League.

MORE: Video: Kylian Mbappe puts on clinical show to bag quick-fire France double against Argentina

Previous winners of this award include big names like Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Raheem Sterling, though it occasionally gets it a little wrong, with known Manchester United flop Anderson picking up the prize in 2008, and fellow Brazilian Alexandre Pato the year after that.

Mbappe won it in 2017 and must surely be the big favourite to do so again, though some starlets at Premier League clubs are theoretically in with a chance after making the rather long shortlist.

Trent Alexander-Arnold impressed for Liverpool last season

Ben Woodburn is another familiar face from Liverpool on there, while Angel Gomes and Diogo Dalot are there representing Manchester United.

Both clubs have a proud tradition of successfully bringing through academy players into their senior side, but this lot are certainly not up there with someone like Mbappe just yet.

Still, one imagines Sessegnon really deserved to be in the running, so for him to not even make this extensive list is pretty baffling…

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool

Carles Alena, Barcelona

Jose Maria Amo, Sevilla Atletico

Angel Gomes, Manchester United

Mirko Antonucci, Roma

Houssem Aouar, Lyon

Giorgi Arabidze, Shakhtar Donetsk

Joaquin Ardaiz, Royal Antwerp

Ismail Azzaoui, Willem II

Musa Barrow, Atalanta

Fabian Benko, Bayern Munich

Sander Berge, Racing Genk

Justin Bijlow, Feyenoord

Bilal Boutobba, Sevilla

Brahim Diaz, Manchester City

Lorenzo Callegari, Paris Saint-Germain

Lazar Carevic, Barcelona

Daniele Collinge, Stuttgart

Patrick Cutrone, AC Milan

Dani Olmo, Dinamo Zagreb

Tom Davies, Everton

Matthijs De Ligt, Ajax

Matthijs De Ligt in action for Ajax

Abdou Diakhate, Fiorentina

Krepin Diatta, Club Brugge

Javairo Dilrosun, Hertha Berlin

Diogo Dalot, Manchester United

Moussa Djenepo, Standard Liege

Ritsu Doan, Groningen

Mamadou Doucoure, Borussia Monchengladbach

Odsonne Edouard, Celtic

Marcus Edwards, Tottenham

Sergei Eremenko, Spartak Moscow

Zackarias Faour, Osters

Francisco Feuillassier, Real Madrid

Phil Foden, Manchester City

Phil Foden is a highly rated prospect at Manchester City

Mamadou Fofana, Alanyaspor

Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Crystal Palace

Juan Foyth, Tottenham

Dennis Geiger, Hoffenheim

Giorgos Giannoutsos, AEK Athens

Ianis Hagi, Viitorul Constanta

Achraf Hakimi, Real Madrid

Amadou Haidara, Red Bull Salzburg

Kai Havertz, Bayer Leverkusen

Callum Hudson-odoi, Chelsea

Nanitamo Ikone, Montpellier

Alexander Isak, Borussia Dortmund

Arnel Jakupovic, Juventus

Dejan Joveljic, Red Star Belgrade

Herbie Kane, Liverpool

Yann Karamoh, Inter Milan

Teun Koopmeiners, AZ Alkmaar

Han Kwang-Song, Cagliari

Alban Lafont, Toulouse

Leandrinho, Napoli

Dimitris Limnios, PAOK

Justin Kluivert, Roma

Justin Kluivert recently joined Roma after impressing at Ajax

Lincoln, Gremio

Jordan Lotomba, Young Boys

Davor Lovren, Fortuna Dusseldorf

Sandi Lovric, Sturm Graz

Mikhail Lysov, Lokomotiv Moscow

Arne Maier, Hertha Berlin

Dennis Man, Steaua Bucharest

Manu Garcia, Manchester City

Faitout Maouassa, Rennes

Mauro Junior, PSV Eindhoven

Stephy Mavididi, Arsenal

Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain

Weston McKennie, Schalke

Jan Mlakar, Maribor

Nikola Moro, Dinamo Zagreb

Reiss Nelson, Arsenal

Lukas Nmecha, Manchester City

Martin Odegaard, Heerenveen

Abdulkadir Omur, Trabzonspor

Matej Oravec, Spartak Trnava

Reece Oxford, Borussia Monchengladbach

Pedro Pereira, Genoa

Pietro Pellegri, Monaco

Alejandro Pozo Pozo, Sevilla

Christian Pulisic, Borussia Dortmund

Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Arsenal

Panagiotis Retsos, Bayer Leverkusen

Rui Pedro, Boavista

Yusuf Sari, Marseille

Ismaila Sarr, Rennes

Malang Sarr, Nice

Borna Sosa, Dinamo Zagreb

Moussa Sylla, Monaco

Antonio Moya Vega, Atletico Madrid

Idrissa Toure, Werder Bremen

Dayot Upamecano, Red Bull Leipzig

Moussa Wague, KAS Eupen

Chris Willock, Benfica

Ben Woodburn, Liverpool

Liverpool’s Ben Woodburn makes the list

Rafik Zekhnini, Rosenborg

Andi Zeqiri, Lausanne

Baris Zeren, Galatasaray

Luca Zidane, Real Madrid

(List courtesy of the Daily Mirror)

More Stories Ben Woodburn Brahim Diaz Callum Hudson-Odoi Golden Boy Award Jeff Reine-Adelaide Kylian Mbappe Phil Foden Reiss Nelson Ryan Sessegnon Trent Alexander-Arnold