Oxlade-Chamberlain & Sterling on ‘Golden Boy’ shortlist

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea are all represented in the race for the European Golden Boy award.

Journalists from Tuttosport, L’Equipe, Marca, Bild, De Telegraaf and The Times vote for the competition winner, which has previously been won by some of world football’s biggest and best names – including Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney.

This year’s shortlist is packed full of European football’s most talented young players, with a heavy contingent from La Liga unsurprisingly making the running.

However, the English Premier League is well represented, and it’s Liverpool who lead the charge with Raheem Sterling and Jonjo Shelvey amongst the contenders.

Sterling has made a huge impact at Anfield since getting his senior chance from manager Brendan Rodgers, notably scoring the winner in the 1-0 win against Reading last weekend.

Jonjo Shelvey joined Liverpool in 2010, but is another youngster to come to the fore under Rodgers. The one-cap England international has notably impressed in Europe with goals against Young Boys and Udinese.

Arsenal starlet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got his big chance last season at the Emirates Stadium, and was a solid performer whenever manager Arsene Wenger called upon the teenager.

His form also led to an England call-up at Euro 2012, with the Gunners starlet featuring regularly for Roy Hodgson in Poland & Ukraine.

Joel Campbell, who is on loan at Real Betis from Arsenal, also makes the shortlist after a solid campaign with Lorient last term.

Chelsea stopper Thiabut Courtois is another loan star to be in contention, with the Belgian stopper impressing for Atletico Madrid both domestically and in Europe on the way to a Europa League final.

Manchester City starlet John Guidetti, who scored goals for fun on loan at PSV Eindhoven last season, is another to make the cut, whilst former Manchester United starlet Paul Pogba is also in contention after his move to Juventus.
 

European Golden Boy shortlist (alphabetical):

David Alaba - Bayern Munich

Jano Ananidze - Spartak Moscow

Christian Atsu - FC Porto

Jean-Christophe Bahebeck - Troyes

Joel Campbell - Real Betis

Luc Castaignos - FC Twente

Thibaut Courtois - Atletico Madrid

Philippe Coutinho - Inter

Gerard Deulofeu - Barcelona

Julian Draxler - Schalke

Dudu - Dynamo Kyiv

Stephan El Shaarawy - AC Milan

Christian Eriksen - Ajax

Mario Gotze - Borussia Dortmund

John Guidetti - Manchester City

Isco - Malaga

Jese - Real Madrid

Ola John - Benfica

Vaclav Kadlec - Sparta Prague

Koke - Atletico Madrid

Mateo Kovacic - Dinamo Zagreb

Milan Lalkovic - Vitoria Guimaraes

Erik Lamela - Roma

Jurgen Locadia - PSV Eindhoven

Samuele Longo - Espanyol

Lazar Markovic - Partizan Belgrade

Bruno Martins Indi - Feyenoord

Iker Muniain - Athletic Bilbao

Ahmed Musa - CSKA Moscow

Pedro Obiang - Sampdoria

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - Arsenal

Magomed Ozdoev - Lokomotiv Moscow

Paul Pogba - Juventus

Mohamed Salah - Basel

Jonjo Shelvey - Liverpool

Raheem Sterling - Liverpool

Raphael Varane - Real Madrid

Marco Verratti - Paris Saint-Germain

Granit Xhaka - Borussia Monchengladbach