Bellingham leads '23 Golden Boy award nominees

Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham, Manchester United striker Rasmus Højlund and Bayern Munich forward Jamal Musiala are among the 25 players shortlisted for this year's Golden Boy award.

The award, which was established by Italian newspaper Tuttosport, is given to the best player under the age of 21 in Europe across a calendar year.

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The winner of the award will be announced on Dec. 4 at a ceremony in Turin.

Past winners of the Golden Boy award include Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. Last year's award was picked up by Barcelona midfielder Gavi.

Bellingham will be one of the favourites to win the award after his impressive start to his Madrid career since his £88.5 million ($107.4m) move in the summer. He has scored 10 goals in his first 10 games for the club.

Bellingham has established himself as an integral member of Gareth Southgate's England side and last season played a key role in Borussia Dortmund's push for the Bundesliga title which they eventually lost out to Bayern on the final day.

Højlund also secured a high-profile transfer last summer moving to Old Trafford from Atalanta. The 20 year-old has also enjoyed a fine start at his new club, with three goals in his first United eight games.

Despite United losing both matches, the striker scored on his Champions League debut away to Bayern and also bagged a brace against Galatasaray.

Last season for Atalanta, the Denmark international scored 16 goals in all competitions.

Musiala was an integral member of the Bayern side that won the Bundesliga last season, finishing with 16 goals and 16 assists in all competitions.

Other candidates on the Golden Boy shortlist include RB Leipzig's Xavi Simons, Barcelona defender Alejandro Balde, Chelsea's Levi Colwill and Evan Ferguson of Brighton.

Golden Boy shortlist:

Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig), António Silva (Benfica), Alejandro Balde (Barcelona), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen), Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Rasmus Højlund (Manchester United), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven), Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth), Arthur Vermeeren (Antwerp), Evan Ferguson (Brighton), Lucas Gourna-Douath (FC Salzburg), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain), Ousmane Diomande (Sporting Lisbon), Arnau Martínez (Girona), Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich), Andy Diouf (Lens), Arda Güler (Real Madrid), Bilal El Khannouss (Genk), Martin Baturina (Dinamo Zagreb), João Neves (Benifca), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona).